A Failure Dressed In Purple
by htffan951
Summary: There are many things that people would consider wrong with the world. Spyro just happens to be one of those things. He has been beaten, he's been bruised, and he has been tormented by his own thoughts. Even Spyro has gotten around to think this. Is it even possible for Cynder or Hunter to save him from himself? (Sequel to Mistreated)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, just to remind you all that I'm going to be deleting "Panacea". For any of you who were following it, you would know that I don't like where I was going with it, among other problems. However, I still do want to work on it, so this story is going to be the official sequel to "Mistreated". I do hope that you all enjoy it.**

In time anything can changed. Traditions, feelings, life styles, and several other things that you can think of. A god can fall, and those who he thought of as weak peasants can rise to power in his place. Rolling mountains, can be whittled down by the elements till they become nothing more than a small hills and endless plains. From locations to feelings, from the physical, to the nonphysical, it can all be changed.

But not someone's personality. That cannot change. A man might be a wimp, he might be a coward, and when faced with something that scares him he will run. He will try and change who he is, but in the end it will become pointless. You can no change who you are. You can only change how you perceive your actions, and what you do with yourself after these actions.

Spyro was hoping for change, but it hasn't come. He'd hoped that after three years, something would change. But it hasn't. He still lives in fear, he still is uncertain of his actions, and he is still looking for a place to feel at peace. Even worse, he thought that other people's opinion about him would change, yet here he is still running for his life.

For the past three years, Hunter, his one and only friend, Cynder, his ever loving mate, and himself have been hiding from search parties that come from Warfang in search for him. After the war against Malefor, so long ago, many people where left scared and scarred at the mere thought of another purple dragon walking among them. Then when word got out that Spyro killed someone, a child no less, people panicked.

They flocked to their king, Flame, each one begging him to do something about this purple monster, and do something he did. He had Spyro captured, and Spyro was on death row when someone saved him. Cynder, his very first friend he made when he was out on the streets, broke him out of his prison. They stayed together prior to that point as they both lived crappy lives, surrounded by people who just hated them for who they were. It wasn't much of a surprise to her when Spyro admitted his feelings to her that same day in the jail cell. They escaped the prison, and they escaped Warfang to live on their own. And thanks to the help of Hunter, another friend Spyro made while in Warfang, they managed to live a rather decent life.

Or at least as decent as one could make with the thought of hiding for the rest of their life.

It didn't take very long after their escape before they saw the first search party flying overhead. Spyro and his companions ran for several miles before they lost the search party. This was especially tiring for Spyro as his body wasn't very strong. He noted this moment down as another moment he wished they could just fly away as it would have made things easier. But this wishful hoping is pointless, as Spyro was missing one of his wings, due to an injury inflicted upon him by his mother, and so he couldn't fly.

Now they have to hide, running place to place, finding new homes, mostly caves, to sleep in just to keep safe. But Spyro always feared of being caught, and he feared even more what would happen to Cynder and Hunter if they were caught with him. They had many close calls, but they haven't been caught yet, and if it wasn't for Hunter, they never would have made it this far.

Spyro has grown to see Hunter as a mentor in the past three years, and he couldn't be happier than to call him his friend. Hunter has gathered food for them, hunted wildlife for them, and has recently begun to teach Spyro how to hunt. Cynder has also done her own fair share in supporting him in his troubles and his fears, and she's teaching him more about his elemental powers too. If Spyro had never meet those two, he wasn't sure how he could possibly survive.

However, recently Spyro has been having troubles with himself, and neither Hunter's words, nor Cynder's support could help with the matter. He's began to hate himself, what he was, who he is, and how his life has turned out once again. He is still happy being with Cynder and around Hunter, and he has told them that several times.

But somedays, secretly, he wishes Cynder never saved him from drowning three years ago.

Whenever Hunter would take him hunting, it would always end in failure, or at least for Spyro that is. He would screw up somehow and Hunter would be left to clean up his mess. He was getting nowhere in his training with Cynder either. For some reason he just couldn't figure out how to control his elemental powers outside of what Cynder had already taught him in Warfang, which wasn't much. Spyro has even begun to blame himself for all of the bad things that happens to them, even if they weren't really his fault. It doesn't really help when Spyro's own dark half torments him most days, antagonizing him, poking fun at him, and reminding himself of just how much of a failure he truly is. Yet another 'gift' that came from all the suffering and pain his parents gave him.

Cynder and Hunter have taken notice of the negative attitude emanating from Spyro, and they are trying their best to help him. But everyone has their limits, and it might already be too late to save Spyro from himself.

 **Alright so this was just an introductory chapter for this story, the real story will begin in the next chapter. This one was just really meant to fill people in on what the first story was about, what they need to know, a little hinting at what is going to happen in this story, and all that stuff. I do hope I've set the mood for you all. I will try to post the actual first chapter in the near future.**


	2. Chapter 2

A hunter stocks its pray in complete silence, not even letting himself hear his own breath. Silently, a hunter creeps through its surroundings, using everything and anything as cover to sneak up on its pray. As quiet as a mouse, a hunter spots it's pray and moves forwards aiming for the kill. A hunter is also vigilant, always keeping an eye out for anything that could scare the prey away or make your presents known. Nothing is meant to get past you, and never ever lose focus on the-

SNAP!

Spyro gasped. He didn't notice the twig till after he stepped on it. The elk he'd been following the past half an hour poked its head up from the tall grass it was munching on, alert to whatever made the noise. It didn't wait long before it ran off further into the forest. Luckily for Spyro it didn't get far before an arrow whizzed by, catching it in the neck. Now most people would be happy to have a fresh lunch, but Spyro just slumped his head and stared bitterly at the twig at his feet.

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Hunter drop down from the tree tops to finish off the elk in a humane way before preparing it for the trip back to the cave. Despite their victory, Spyro felt nothing more than utter defeat. He'd did so well up till this point, hunting that elk. He did everything Hunter has been trying to teach him in the past year and a half.

He kept low to the ground, he concealed his breath, moved quietly and quickly, but in the end, like every other attempt, he would fail. Sometimes it was just from dumb luck, like another predator catching his prey, but most of the time it was the little things, like this twig that cost him his prey. In his bitter rage Spyro threw the two ends of the stick aside.

It didn't really help his mood.

"You don't need to be so hard on yourself you know." Spyro lift his head up to Hunter, who'd already had skinned, gutted, and placed into a large sack just about every piece that was edible on the elk. Spyro wasn't in the mood for another pep talk and looked away. Hunter placed a paw on Spyro's shoulders, hoping to make him feel a little better.

"Why can't I ever get this right?" Spyro said out loud, more to himself than to anyone in particular.

"You will figure it out Spyro, I know- "

"Stop it Hunter… just… stop…" He wasn't in the mood to another one of Hunter's speeches on how he will get better, that he just needed more practice. He's had enough practice, over a years' worth of practice and he was still no close to catching anything. Spyro stood back up and without another word began to walk back home. If it wasn't for the fact that someone could follow the trail back to the cave they hid in, Spyro would be dragging his tail along the ground to accompany his drooping head.

Hunter felt sorry for the kid. He wanted to help cheer him up, but if he were to be honest he was rather tired giving the same speech as well. It would always end the same. He'd give a grand speech about not giving up on yourself, but Spyro wouldn't really listen. Not anymore at least. When they first started Spyro believed in every word Hunter told him, and Hunter truly thought that Spyro could achieve greatness. He had seen Spyro surpass great feats before in the past, such as escaping Warfang, but now Spyro given up on himself. Hunter wasn't sure if Spyro can achieve anything anymore. Not until his mood improves at least. Hunter followed Spyro back to his cave. He just hoped that Cynder would do a better job dealing with Spyro.

"How'd it go?" Cynder ask as the two boys walked inside the cave. She got her answer when Spyro just walked past her without saying a word. She didn't follow him as he walked towards the end of the cave, instead deciding to speak to Hunter. "Is he at least getting any better?" Hunter shook his head.

"It's the same as every week that we try this." He kept his voice low, hoping Spyro wouldn't hear. "The boy has given up on himself and I don't know if I can really do anymore to help him." Cynder understood what he was getting at. She pressed a paw against his knee.

"Please don't give up on him yourself." She pleaded with the cheetah. "He's barely hanging on as is, and…" She looked back over to where Spyro went. She couldn't see him where she stood as the light didn't reach that far into the cave, but in her heart she knew the look on his face as she's been seeing it a lot lately. She knew he was killing himself on the inside with ever mistake he's made, no matter how small they really were. And it killing her to see him like this. "But Spyro still needs us. I know it's hard, I'm having a hard time myself. But please just give him more time…" She didn't sound confident in her words.

Hunter set the elk aside and kneeled down to her eye level. "Why don't you try talking to him again Cynder. He needs as much support as he can get right now. I'll cook some dinner in the meantime." This wasn't something that Cynder wanted to hear, but she did as she was told anyway. It felt better than doing nothing at least.

"Spyro?" she called her name as she walked towards the dark end of the cave.

"Yes Cynder?" She was happy at least that he responded to her calls still. It was the only hope she had that he might get better one day. She stopped walking as so her eyes could adjust to the dark a little. "I just wanted to talk, mind if I sit next to you?"

This time he didn't reply right away. Each second he spent in silence, made Cynder lose more and more of her confidence in him. "Sure I guess." He finally replied after several seconds of waiting. Cynder stumbled around a bit in the dark till she could make out a faint outline of Spyro's body and she made her ways towards it, plopping herself down next to him. She made sure to stay close to him, knowing that he liked being right next to her.

"I've heard you've gotten better." She began. She just hoped that he would talk about it. This sort of thing was a shaky thing to talk about with Spyro nowadays. Most of the time he didn't feel like talking about it, but today was one of the lucky times where he would.

"I don't know if 'getting better' is the right thing to say." Spyro admitted. "I keep on making mistakes. It irritates me to no end, why can't I learn from my screw ups?"

"I…" she took the moment to choose her words carefully. "I think that you are focusing way too much on what you're doing wrong, and not enough on what you are doing right. How long did you spend tracking that elk?" Cynder laid her head against what she figured was his shoulder blade, and poked his tail with her own wanting to coil them together, knowing he would like the gesture. Really she was just doing it so that he would open up a little bit.

"I don't know." She felt him shrug. "Half an hour or so. Maybe a little more. I've done better." He felt her tail press against his. He knew what she wanted from him and he had to smile at her attempt to make him feel better. He gave in to her tail's demands and wrapped them together. She nuzzled the base of his neck making his smile grow. Spyro was always amazed how easily Cynder could make him smile.

"That is still pretty good. Just give it a little more time Spyro." She didn't realize her mistake in what she said till after she said it. She knew his smile left his face, but at least he still held her close which was a good sign for her.

"I've been giving it my all every day Cynder. I don't think I can do any better than what I already am doing." He snorted and shook his head seemingly in disgust of himself from what Cynder could tell. "I'm useless aren't I?"

"What? No Spyro how could you say that?" she lifted her head up to look at him. Her eyes adjusted to the dark enough as so that she could make out most of his facial features. "Spyro I believe that you can do far more than what you give yourself credit for. That's why I still want you to go on these hunting trips with Hunter. I want you to see that you can be better than-"

Spyro interrupted her before she could finish. "Please stop Cynder. I'm really not in the mood for another speech. Not today please." He moved away from her slightly, just enough so that there was a small enough space between them where he could curl up with himself. She tried lying next to him, and putting an arm around him, but Spyro rejected her kind gesture, by knocking her arm away with his shoulder. Cynder just sighed.

"Alright Spyro I'll leave you alone." She said, much to her own dismay. "But don't mope too much. Dinner should be done soon." Giving him a quick kiss, she left him to help Hunter with dinner. Spyro didn't leave from his spot, feeling rather tired from hunting and he thought about taking a nap. As tempting as it was, his dark half has been pestering him more and more the past couple of months, mostly in his sleep. He figured his dark half had more control of his thoughts when he slept which could explain why he was more active when he was asleep. Either that or maybe Dark Spyro just didn't want him to have good dreams.

Spyro knew it was silly, but he'd started to grow worried whenever he got tired, wondering if Dark Spyro was going to pop up again. He told Cynder before about these dreams. She would tell him not to listen to anything his dark half ever had to say, which he believed for a long time, but everyone has their limits. After being called pathetic or incompetent so many times, especially from yourself, you begin to believe it.

But he was so tired. "Maybe it'll be peaceful this time." He thought to himself closing his eyes. It couldn't hurt to try right?


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry guys this took so long to make, I recently got a job and it's been taking most of my time up. I'll try my best to get stuff posted as soon as I can.**

Spyro found himself in an endless white void, a place he's grown well to accustom to. He started to walk around, figuring he would find his counterpart around here somewhere as they often met in this sort of place whenever he slept. At one point in time he uses to dread dreaming of this white abyss and what his other half had to say while he was in here. He thanked the fact that he learned how to create things in this place. It was just a dream after all.

From below, a red brick road rose up and became the new ground below his paws, followed up by random buildings, with no actual thought out design to them, to form a street of sorts. You could still see the white background far off into the distance, but Spyro didn't really see much of a need to fill that area in. His dark half had a knack for ruining things.

Almost on cue, a dark mass barreled through one of the buildings nearby causing it to topple over, only for the remnants of the building to disappear into the void. The blackness crashed landed onto the bricks, shattering the ground into pieces which fell back into the void. With a rather dull look and even duller groan, Spyro fixed the damages done. Along with the fixes, rose two cushion, for his other half and himself to sit on. "Thank you." Dark Spyro said as he sat down on his dark brown leather cushion. Spyro didn't say anything himself as he took his own seat on the red fabric. Despite the fact that Spyro disliked coming here, the two Spyro's formed what some could call a friendship, though Spyro would rather call it an agreement not to kill one another whenever they see each other. They were probably just going to bicker or argue, but Spyro saw no reason not to get comfortable during the ordeal.

"What do you want this time?" Spyro questioned his counterpart.

"Meh, I got bored. You haven't let me out of here in a long, long time. I'm getting bored in here."

"You can create whatever you want in here, go destroy things or whatever it is you do for fun."

Dark Spyro did something akin to rolling your eyes, though it was hard to tell as he lacked pupils, his eyes instead filled with a similar white emptiness to the void outside the imaginary streets Spyro made. "I have before, but it's just not the same. You don't get the same reaction from people in here than you do in real life." He scratched at the cushion, finding some amusement from leaving marks in the leather. "And besides there are other things I'd rather be doing at the moment.

This was new, or at least Spyro doesn't recall a time where Dark Spyro wanted to do something other than ruining his life. "Oh? And what might that be?"

Dark Spyro was silent for the moment, pondering over what exactly he wanted. "Well I'd love to mess your head, that has never changed. Hell it's the only thing amusing in this damn place." He began to mumble other words under his breath that Spyro didn't hear, though if he were to be honest, he wasn't sure he wanted to know what he said. "But what I really want, what I've been wanting for the longest time…. I want to kill Cynder."

Spyro merely nodded his head. This something new like he thought, but actually a pretty common thing. And every time he heard Dark Spyro ask this, he felt compelled to asked, "And why is that?"

"I hate, that whore, she's nothing but trouble for you, holding you back, and is blinding you to what you really can do. You're a purple dragon Spyro, your much stronger than you think you are. It's only her that is putting this doubt into yourself. Go on, ditch her and your feline friend and I'll show you what your capable of."

It was a tempting offer. Spyro hated to admit it, but with his constant failings, he often wondered if there was nothing that Cynder or Hunter could do to help him. However, Spyro loved Cynder, and he knew that she was trying this hard because she loved him, just like Hunter was trying his best to help him because he cared for him as a friend would another friend.

"I'm sorry, but I'm never going to let you out of here again."

Dark Spyro shook his head. "Oh Spyro, Spyro, Spyro, will you never learn?" the land scape turned pitch black, the buildings vanishing in a moment along with the bricked flooring and pillows they sat on, leaving only the two dragons and the table, though the latter was quickly disposed of when Dark Spyro turned it into splinters with a single punch. "In here I have full control of your mind, and you, your just as weak as you are in the real world."

Dark visions started to creep over his eyes, something of Dark Spyro's doing. Spyro was ready for it, as this was something he often experienced while in this kind of nightmare. It would always be the same, Spyro would be put in a happy situation before it is suddenly ripped away in the most painful of ways. More involved Cynder dying in front of him, killed by something he could never control, but this one was different.

It felt like a haze to him, the vision just sort of moved along before him, but it was end the terrified him. He was holding Cynder by her neck as she was dangling off a cliff, below sharp rocks sticking out of the ground. He tried to pull her up, but his arm would not listen to him and in the back of his mind he heard whispers telling him to let her go. But the cherry on top of it all was what Cynder was doing, or saying in her case.

"Go ahead, do it Spyro." He could never remember sounding so bitter. "Prove to me that you're not just some waste of space." Spyro couldn't let her go, he didn't want to, but his hesitation to drop her made Cynder growl. "What are you waiting for! Drop me! Your spineless, pathetic, and worst of all, you're a loser. You'll never be able to get anything correct, and your only purpose in life would be your own suffering. You desire nothing more than to rot in the deepest and darkest of holes, and burn in the hottest flames in hell. Spyro I hate you with ever bone in my body"

Spyro's arm shook, his blood boiling with rage. Even if this wasn't the real Cynder, it hurt him like it was. "Fuck you." Was all he could manage to say before letting her go. He watched her fall to her death, to be impaled on the spikes below, but instead Cynder just unfolded her wings and landed back beside Spyro. The look Cynder was giving him, he felt like a child in front of his parents when he did something wrong.

Cynder was shaking her head. "oh Spyro, Spyro, Spyro, even when you try to kill me, you fail. And here I thought you loved me." She scoffed. "But I guess you can't manage that either." Cynder gabbed Spyro by his throat and lifted him off the ground and over the edge of the cliff. "it's funny the things you can do when you have both wings, though I guess you can't really know what that might feel like." Cynder's paws tightened around his neck choking him. "Now then," she leaned closer to him. "I've got a couple things to say to you." Spyro's shuttered in terror as the rest of his dream was filled with painful scenarios, convincing yet painful words coming from loved ones, and pure torcher, which was only relieved when he woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night.

He turned to where Cynder would sleep and tried nudging her awake. He needed to talk to someone about his dream. Only, Cynder wasn't beside him. This worried him and he got up to go find her. She wasn't anywhere near him and he was just about to panic when he heard her voice coming from outside the cave.

"I just don't know what to do anymore Hunter."

"Cynder?" Quietly Spyro stood up and walked close to where his mate and friend where talking, but made sure to stick to the shadows. Whatever they were talking about it was something about him, that much he knew.

"Please Cynder, I know this is hard, but I really need you to try to keep it together. Spyro still needs you." Hunter sounded despite, but as to why, Spyro didn't have a clue.

"I know Hunter, I really do and I would do anything to keep him happy, but everyone has a limit and I've just about reached mine. He's completely given up on himself! How am I supposed help him when he won't even let me help him?" Spyro didn't have to see her to know that she was on the verge of tears.

"It's hard on me as well Cynder, I understand what you're getting at." Hunter said, trying to calm her down. "We are in this together. We both can help Spyro out, and we will get through this. You just need to believe in yourself and Spyro."

There was a silence between the two, a rather unnerving one at that. Spyro was rather happy to hear that from Hunter, but it was the lack of response from Cynder that worried him. Her answer didn't help either.

"Can I tell you something Hunter?" From what Spyro could tell, she sounded sad, possibly guilty?

"Of course Cynder. What's wrong?"

"Sometimes…. Sometimes I wish I never met Spyro."

Spyro backed up, not bothering to be quiet this time. His heart was in pieces. How could she say that, why would she say that, WHY?! He wanted to walk up to her and demand her to explain, but his body felt weak, his mouth dry, and he could hardly move. He hoped for a response, no he needed a response from Hunter, Cynder, ANYBODY! Just someone say something, something to explain what Cynder said, to make her take it back, or at the very least take away this memory.

"Cynder…." Hunter didn't sound surprised, more sympathetic. "I understand how you feel…. To be honest I've thought that once or twice myself."

That was all Spyro could take. He felt empty inside, hollow, a mere shell of what he used to be, which wasn't much to begin with. His friend has abandoned him, his mate hated him… Why? "Haven't I endured enough?" Spyro mumbled in his head. His eye quickly began to water and his legs started to move on their own, towards the exit, and away from his pain. But his pain followed him, out the cave entrance, down the dirt road that they had taken to the cave, and down the side of the mountain when he tripped on a root from a nearby tree. But the pain he felt as he rolled along the ground, was nothing compared to the pain in his heart, or at least what was left of it.

Spyro has been hungry before, to the point where he nearly starved to death, but even then he never felt so empty in his life. He didn't even notice that he had stopped rolling and was lying at the bottom of the cliff side, right in front of a forest. He never realized that something was moving along the trees and bushes, coming towards his stiff body, he never realized that Hunter had more to say.

"But I always think about all the things Spyro has done to make me smile. He's gone through hell and back, and yet he still manages to stand on his legs, he's been beaten, tormented, discriminated against, and yet he still finds a way to endure it all. Spyro's body may be weak, but he has the strongest soul I've ever seen. I envy him for that…. But it's not just that. I dream of Spyro growing strong physically. And you should to Cynder. Spyro has done nothing to deserve what life has done to him, so wouldn't you like to see him be able to stand on his legs and be able to be happy with who he is?"

Cynder looked away feeling rather stupid for saying what she did. "I do Hunter; I want only what is best for Spyro. I still love him with every fiber of my body, and I would walk to the ends of the earth just to save him…. I'm sorry Hunter for thinking those things."

Hunter knelt down and placed a paw on Cynder's shoulder. "It's quite alright. We are merely mortals. We have flaws and when we are angry, confused, worried, and even scared, we say, do, and even think things we don't actually mean. Your angry that Spyro's given up, your confused as to why, your worried that he won't be able to make it out on his own and your scared of losing him. I don't blame you for thinking what you did, but I need you to tell me that you want to see Spyro grow strong."

Cynder smiled up at her furry friend, and rather amazed that he could read her that well. "Thank you Hunter. I do want to see Spyro grow strong, I want to see him conquer his demons, and I want to see him smile again."

Hunter nodded and stood back up. "Good. Now, why don't you go get some sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow. We are going to teach him how to be strong."

Confidently Cynder nodded, feeling her hopes be rejuvenated which made her feel weird when she suddenly yawned. "Thank you Hunter for this talk, I really needed it." Hunter gave her his signature smile, something Cynder had grown rather fond of. "Well goodnight Hunter."

"Goodnight Cynder." The two parted ways, each going to their own respective part of the cave. Cynder sat down where Spyro and herself slept and curled up into a ball. She figured that Spyro was fast asleep when he didn't move closer to her and wrapped himself with her body like he normally did when they slept together. She reached out to find him, her eyes still closed, and tried to find him. Only when she felt nothing but the ground did she opened her eyes.

Just as Hunter was about to fall asleep, Cynder's voice brought him out of it.

"I'm sorry Hunter for bothering you again, but have you seen Spyro?"


	4. Chapter 4

Flame marched back and forth around his throne room, as he tried to figure out a plan that could solve all the problems that his people had, while his adviser simply watched with a lack of interest. This wasn't the first time Flame had paced around this room in silence, to the point where his adviser was amazed that there wasn't a indentation in the flooring from Flame walking in the same spot the past few years.

"Sir, I really don't this this is the best use of your ti…" his adviser tried to get him to actually do something, before Flame stopped him.

"I almost got it!" Flame hollered back. He quickened his pace while the old mole just inwardly sighed. Days like these nearly killed him out of boredom. It wasn't often that the mole actually did his job in the kingdom as Flame was normally a pretty good king. Sure he needed some guidance here and there, but for the most part he knew how to help his people.

That being said, for the most part he knew what he was doing, and during those times the old mole enjoyed watching Flame develop from the young drake to the powerful leader he was now. However, it is times like these that made it hard to stand there and watch as Flame refused to listen to anything he might say, nor would he actually do anything but walked in a circle around the room trying to figure out whatever problem his people might be having. Which has been happening more often than usual recently.

First it was the riots, arguing that Flame let the purple dragon go on purpose. Then he had to deal with his allies turn against him, all of whom thought that Flame couldn't handle the power of being king and thought that they should hold the mantel until he was of age. Now he was trying to figure out how to calm everyone down. Ever since Spyro left the city, everyone has been in this panic. It was a miracle to have a day without someone coming to Flame begging him to do something about Spyro.

"I think I got it!" Flame boasted. He walked up to his adviser, hoping to hear his opinion on how to calm everyone down. "Why don't we bring Spyro here and have him tell everyone what he has told us?"

"And how is that supposed to help?" The mole asked, having his doubts.

Flame started to pace again, much to his advisor's misfortune. "You see, this boy was on death row and yet he still managed to tell me what happened to him all these years, so surely he will be able to stand up to a crowd of people who want him dead. He will just tell them why he did the things he did, what he thinks, how he wishes to change, and how he's come to be this way! And I can be there to support him. If the people think that I'm on his side, then surely they will be as well."

The mole looked at him questionably. "Sir…. I don't know how good of an idea this is. What if they don't want to listen, or worse, when they see you side with him, what if they revolt against the kingdom?"

"I'll worry about that when we get there." Flame said, blindly tossing reason out the window.

The mole groaned. "Well how are you even going to get Spyro to come here in the first place? We've been searching for years now and we haven't come close to catching him."

"I've already thought about that." Jackle smiled happily. "I'm going to inform other kingdoms, and other non-dragon settlements about Spyro and have a reward to bring Spyro to me unharmed. Surely with the help of even more people we will be able to clear his name." Flame looked proudly at his advisor, thinking that he had solved all the problems by enacting this plan. His advisor signed inwardly. It wasn't his place to tell Flame how stupid of an idea it was. All that he could do was support and suggest things, not that Flame would listen to what he had to say about the matter. "I think that is a brilliant plan my King." The mole only slightly lied. He did think it was a good plan, but he had no doubt in his mind that something was going to go wrong.

"Splendid!" Flame roared as he marched out of the throne room. "Spread the word to other nations that I want Spyro found, unharmed and brought to me." Flame repeated to his advisor, giving him more of an order than a request. "I've got plans to make."

Within a day there where wanted posters with a crude image of him all across Avalar, all reading

WANTED ALIVE

Spyro the Purple Dragon

Reward 10,000 Gems

Upon seeing this posters, the people of Warfang grew more confused by their king's actions. 'Why would Flame want him alive' most of them thought. Several rumors started to spread around Warfang that Flame had "special" plans for the purple drake and that he is going to get what is coming to him. Others panicked and thought that Flame was trying to help Spyro in his conquest to take over Avalar. People would flock to Flame to answer these question, and all he did was assure them that he wasn't going to harm anyone, nor was he going to betray his people. This didn't help the peoples worries and fears, but it calmed them down for now.

"Sir" Flame's advisor whispered just as another group of civilians left the throne room. "Are you really sure you want to go through with this plan? People seem more worried than ever."

Flame nodded. "I've noticed, but the people have been wanting something to happen, and so I'm doing the only thing I can. The only other choice I have would be to send our military after him, which would only cause more of a panic… and besides, if other nations search for him it will hopefully ease everyone's nerves."

The old mole could hear the uncertainty in his king's voice, but still he said "If you think that is best, then I shall question you no more."

"Thank you." Flame cheerfully replied, though in his head he secretly hoped that things would be fine as well. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen form this.

All over Avalar, people saw the wanted posters, and while most of them ignored the poster, due to fear of being hurt if they did try to catch Spyro, there were a few who were more than interested in giving it a shot.

Deep in the swamps there was a tiny town, the buildings only big enough to house large insects. It population made it glow brightly in the dim swamps, though this was only due to the fact that their bodies produced these bright lights.

One of its civilians looked at the poster and grinned widely, his natural golden glow growing even brighter. That is until a pink Dragonfly flew by and grabbed her son by the arm, "No you're not going after him."

"Oh but mom, how am I supposed to prove to you guys that I'm able to take care of myself if you don't let me leave the village?"

The pink dragonfly rolled her eyes. "How about try and do something that won't get yourself killed?" she said as she pushed him through the doorway to their home. Her son grimaced.

'Oh I'm going to catch him,' he thought. 'and then no one in this stinking village will look down upon me again.'

Among the Cheetah village, there was one male who looked at the poster in pure discuss before he ripped it down from the pole it was attached to. The cheetah glared at the image of Spyro before crushing the paper into a ball and left to round up more of his people to help. He walked his home to ponder how to capture Spyro when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." the cheetah didn't bother opening the door.

"my apologies, but the whole town starting to fall into chaos. Everyone is afraid of this purple dragon ever since news about him spread. They need there chief to talk them down.

The chief of the clan grinned, now was his perfect chance to get everyone on his side. "Sure thing, I'll be out in just a moment."

Far off on the water, a captain to a boat raised the wanted poster high for his crew, however he didn't speak, but his parrots did.

"Looks like we got ourselves a new target boys!" one of the parrots said, causing the whole boat to light up with cheers and sinister laughter. As the sails where set and the flags raised, the pirate crew set their sights to Avalar.

Hunter and Cynder have been looking for Spyro the whole day and they couldn't find him. When they realized that Spyro had disappeared they figured that he had just left to be alone for some time, they even went to sleep, figuring that he would return while they were asleep. But when they found that he wasn't in the cave when they woke up, that was when they started to worry. They searched for him in the general spots they have been to, the lake they get their water from, the general area in which he and Hunter hunted, even the base of the mountain they lived on, and yet there was no trace of their purple friend.

As the sun began to fall behind the horizon, Cynder came up with the idea that maybe Spyro was captured which only made them all the more worried for the boy. Hunter had left into town a couple miles off to see if he could get any sort of clue on the whereabouts on Spyro, or if anyone has heard anything. Cynder figured that Hunter wouldn't be back anytime soon so she got some sleep, but to her surprise the cheetah came back with in a few hours after his departure, holding a wanted poster in his paw.

Cynder studied the poster. "Well… at the very least we can assume that Spyro wasn't captured by Warfang." She wasn't really sure if this was good or not, but it helped a little.

"That is most likely true Cynder, however this also means that more people will be looking for him." Hunter added, killing off whatever hope Cynder had gained from her statement.

"Hunter I'm worried, how are we going to hide ever all of Avalar, let alone find Spyro?"

Hunter knelt down and placed a paw on Cynder's shoulder. "Don't worry Cynder we will find him, and no matter what I will bring Spyro back to you." He showed her the wanted poster again. "look, see the king wants Spyro alive, so at the very least if he has been captured, he is alive. We just need to find him before someone else takes him to Warfang."

"But we have searched all around the area," Cynder said frustrated at the whole situation. "Where else could he be?"

Hunter didn't answer for a few seconds, pondering the question himself. If Spyro wasn't near the mountain, wasn't in town, nor the lake, or the forest, where else could he be?"

"Well… this mountain isn't small so it's possible that he could be hiding out somewhere in another cave system…. But that could take days to search through them all, week's possibly."

"We don't really have that much time to waste Hunter. I won't let them take Spyro back there!" Hunter gently waved his paw at her, hoping for her to calm down.

"I know, I know Cynder, I don't want this to happen either…. How about this then. Why don't you search through the cave systems and I'll go to Warfang? If Spyro is there, or is taken there, I'll be sure to bring him back. I'll stay there for a couple of weeks, just to be safe. By that time, hopefully you will have already found him. Does this plan sound good to you?"

Cynder didn't like the idea of splitting up, but it was the only good plan she could think of. "I don't like it… but fine. Just please be safe Hunter."

Hunter gave her a toothy smile, "Don't you worry a thing Cynder. Spyro will be back and safe with us in no time." The cheetah then got up to leave the cave before Cynder stopped him one last time.

"If you find Spyro, please tell him that I'm worried about him, and that I miss him so…. And please tell him that I love him." Hunter nodded and took off to Warfang.

Little did they know that Spyro was still in the mountains, deep in one of the cave systems far from the cave that they made their home in. Slowly Spyro stirred from his slumber, his head feeling like someone was pounding it like a drum.

"What… what happened… where am I?" Spyro sounded very tired. He was lying on his did and tried to stand only for more pain to fill his body. He looked down at his legs and saw that two of his legs were broken, but to his own surprise, they were bandaged up and put into a cast. That was when the smell of smoke reached his noise. A fire not too far from him burned gently, giving him some warmth. He was more confused now than ever. Who was helping him, why, and where were they now?

"Do you know?" Spyro tried asking his dark half, only to get no reply. "Right… he only knows what I know…." He began to look around the cave as best as he could from his position in hopes to find any clue as to who helped him. Nothing. Other than him and the campfire, there was nothing in the cave.

Then a noise echoed through the walls, footsteps. Maybe his rescuer was coming, or maybe one of the City guards from Warfang was coming, it was impossible to tell. He was able to figure out that it was a dragon as the footsteps grew louder as they were heavy steps in sequence of one another, and he could hear the clacking of claws along the ground. This didn't really help him figure out if he was safe or not, and the sound was coming behind him. Slowly he struggled to turn, pain lacing through his body as he tried to move. Louder, and louder the sound grew, the being growing closer and closer before it suddenly stopped. Spyro froze. What was this person going to do? What was he going to do?

Spyro struggled one last time to face the stranger, before something hit him on the back of his head hard. Black spots filled his vision before he passed out.

 **Hey guys, i'm sorry again for taking so long to post this chapter. In case you didn't read my last chapter, I said that I got a job and that it's making it really hard to write this story. But I promise you all that I WILL finish this story no matter what. I don't know when I'll post the next chapter, but I'll try to do it as soon as possible. I hope you all enjoyed this one.**


	5. Chapter 5

It has been two whole days since Spyro had disappeared and Cynder had spent that time non-stop looking from cave to cave in the mountains for him, but found nothing. The past night was long for Cynder, her body tired from all the work she put it through without rest. To make things worse for her she racked her mind over questions such as:

"What happened to Spyro, where did he go, am I to blame, did he over hear Hunter's and my talk the night before, was he taken, by whom, is he even still alive, why can't I find him, WHY CAN'T I FIND HIM!" all of which tormented her thoughts the entire time she was searching, leaving her rather exhausted upon the second night both mentally and physically. She laid down in some empty cave she found and tried to get some rest just as the sun started to rise. But she wasn't able to sleep long before something tried to wake her up.

She kept her eyes closed but listen slightly to whoever it was flying next to her. It was a bug, that much she knew from the buzzing it was making. She figured it would leave soon and she'd get some more rest.

"HELLO!" someone shouted inches from her face. "Is there anyone there?" Cynder felt a tiny hand knocking on her skull like a door. She shifted as she stirred slightly from her slumber, batting away whatever creature was bothering her with her paw.

"Come on now, wake up princess!" the voice tried to wake her up again, his sarcasm almost unbearable to listen to at the moment.

"Go away." Cynder said bitterly, her eyes still closed shut. She flipped herself around so that her back was facing this person. She didn't know if he meant her harm, but he hasn't hurt her yet, which was all she needed to not care at the moment.

For a moment the creature behind her buzzed, not saying anything, much to her own delight, before flying off, his buzzing disappearing as he left. Cynder sighed in relief and tried to get more rest. She knew she should be searching for Spyro right now, but she could hardly keep her eyes open. She wasn't really use to going this long without sleep, and it was putting quite the toll on her, which was why it pained her more as the buzzing sound came back, followed by a sharp smack to the back of her head.

Cynder jolted to her feet, the look of death in her eyes as she glared at the small golden dragonfly who was holding a stick in his hand which he used to smack her with. "What do you want!" she bared her teeth at him and did her best to be as menacing as possible. She wasn't in the mood for games, and she was too tired to fight. She just wanted him to leave.

"Hey now, don't you get all feisty on me, girl I'll take you on" the dragonfly did his best look brave, but Cynder could easily tell he was scared. "You have no idea who you are dealing with. I am Sparx! The mightiest Dragonfly around." He swung the stick he had around like a sword, pretending to fend off some invisible force.

Cynder grimaced at the display, it was too early to deal with this sort of thing, and she was too tired to care. Her anger quickly left her and she tried to lay back down, only to be struck on the snout by Sparx's stick. She got back up and swung her paw at him which he dodged easily.

HA! Think you can hit me that easily?" he started darting about all over the place thinking that he could dodge whatever she threw at him, when in truth she was just tired, and her movement was very sluggish. This didn't help her temper, and to make things worse Sparx would nick her face every now and then with his weapon. It didn't hurt, but it was very annoying. She even tried to walk away, only for him to dash in front of her.

"You are not going anywhere, until you answer my question" he hit her one last time before she snapped.

Flaring her wings up into the air, Cynder blew a gust of wind at Sparx which sent him to the ground, and she quickly pinned him under her claws before he could get back up. She growled at him, her claws an inch from both sides of his head, and she threated to squash him.

Sparx threw his hands up into the air in a panic. "Wait, wait, wait!" he pleaded. "Can't we talk this out?"

Cynder pressed down on him, but not enough to crush him yet. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't end you right now?!" She pressed one of her claws into the ground, her talon breaking the dirt and stone with some ease, showing Sparx just how easily it would be for her to pierce his skull.

Sparx gulped. "B-because I'm looking for Spyro just like you, and well I'd thought that maybe you'd want some help?" he said nervously.

Cynder was shocked to hear this, but she didn't budge. "And why are you looking for him? Your just here to turn him in aren't you!" She wasn't going to let anyone hurt him, not if she had anything to say about it.

"Well yeah, but I'm just doing it to show people that we dragonflies are capable of doing good!" Sparx shrieked. Cynder could feel him shake in fear under her paw. She had heard some stories from her mother that people looked down upon the dragonflies, mostly due to their size and lack of being able to do anything that would help society. Granted it doesn't help that they didn't have any power over the elements like dragons, they aren't as cunning as the Cheetahs, nor are they as great of thinkers as the moles, and just about every other race in Avalar can do everything that a dragonfly can do, only better. Well other than light up a dark area, but since most species can create fire, this trait fails to impress anyone.

So by the view of everyone in the world, dragonflies are worthless. Something Cynder figured she could use to her advantage. She kept him pinned down but eased up on him. "Alright than Sparx, I'll make you a deal. You help me find Spyro, and I won't crush you to death."

"PLEASE! I'll do anything you want just don't- wait what did you just say?" Sparx was surprised that she made this kind of offer, but he didn't think too much about it, if it meant living that is. "Um, sure yeah you've got a deal." Cynder got off the bug and he flew back up so that he was eye level with her. "So…. What are you going to do once we find him? Going to take him back to Warfang to claim the reward?"

Cynder scoffed. "What I want with him is none of your business."

"Look miss, you trapped me once, but now I'm free. What's to stop me from just flying away right now?" Cynder swung at him again, only for Sparx to dodge her attack. She mentally cursed herself and her sluggish movements. Sparx just looked at her questionably.

"Ugh, fine… Yes, I'm taking him back to Warfang…. If it will make you happy, I'll even put in a good word that you helped capture him." She may have been lying, but Sparx didn't need to know that.

"And I get 75% of the reward. If you're going to have the great and powerful Sparx on your side, it's going to cost you." Cynder merely rolled her eyes and laid back down, still too tired to continue the search.

"Yeah sure, whatever. We leave once I wake up…. And if you know what's good for you, don't wake me up again." Cynder closed her eyes to recuperate.

Sparx hovered there and shook his head in disappointment. "Are all dragons this lazy?"

"What was that?" Cynder opened one of her eyes and stared at the dragonfly with death in her eyes. Sparx threw his hands up into the air.

"Oh nothing…."

Cynder snorted. "Yeah that's what I thought." She tried to get some sleep, but there was something that was bothering her. She opened one of her eyes lazily and looked back over at Sparx. "How did you know I was searching for Spyro?"

Sparx gave her a sheepish look. "You talk a lot in your sleep, you kept on saying his name. You sounded like you were in dire need to find him for whatever reason. I guess he really screwed up your life… can't blame you for wanting to hunt him down."

Cynder said nothing more and just closed her eye again, a single thought ran across her mind just before she fell asleep. 'I talk in my sleep?'

* * *

Over the past two days, Hunter had made some progress in his search for Spyro. He made it into Warfang without any troubles, and he has heard of some people that might be able to help him figure out if Spyro was in Warfang already or if someone knew his location and was currently bringing him to Warfang. If his sources were correct, they would be in the bar he was walking into. Hunter thought this was rather cliché of a place for someone with information to be hiding in, but that changed when he found out who this person was.

Sitting at a table in the middle of the room was a large wolf with two parrots on his shoulders. Beer and rum ran down his chin as he guzzled down yet another pint with ease. All around him there were a bunch of moles, cheetahs, and ape's cheering him on as he grabbed another pint and gulped it down with even more ease than before. Just by the look of them Hunter could tell just who they were.

Pirates.

Pushing through the crowd of cutthroats, Hunter sat down across from who he assumed was the captain. As he sat down everyone stopped and stared at the newcomer. Trying not to seem to nervous, Hunter spoke first. "Are you Captain Skabb?"

The wolf gave Hunter an odd look, as if he had no idea what Hunter just asked.

"He asked you a question stupid" shouted the parrot to his left, stomping his talons against the wolf's shoulder.

"Dude, I don't think he heard you right." Came the parrot to on his right shoulder. This one shook his head in disappointment, more towards the wolf than Hunter.

Hunter was rather confused, but asked again anyways. This time the wolf nodded his head, still giving Hunter that dumb look on his face. "He maybe the captain, but he's as dumb as bricks" laughed the left parrot, which was followed up by the whole crew laughing, including Skabb oddly enough.

Hunter glanced at the two parrots. "So then I guess I have to talk to you two then?"

"You don't have to do anything furball, you could just leave." The right parrot chuckled. Skabb raised his hand and waved it at his crew, signaling them to leave, which everyone obeyed, scattering away to some corner of the room where they could continue their fun. "Looks like he likes you." The right parrot said as he glanced down at the captain. "I'm Scratch, and this one is Sniff." Scratch used his wing to point to the parrot on the left shoulder. "Skabb here is too stupid to actually speak, so we speak for him. Now what do you want?"

Hunter couldn't help but be bewildered by the group in front of him. How'd anything got done on a ship where the captain couldn't speak, and was govern by two separate minds was something he couldn't understand. Still he was here for a reason. "I'm looking for someone. I'm hoping you might be able to tell me a thing or two about him."

"You're looking for the purple dragon aren't you?" Sniff guessed, though it wasn't that hard of a thing to guess in the first place.

"How'd you know?"

Both bird rolled their eyes at the same time. "Not that hard to figure out, the posters just went up, and all of Avalar is on the search for him, including us, so unless you got something you can tell us, I'm afraid we can't help you." Scratch gave Hunter a cold look, a look that gave Hunter a hint that he wouldn't make it very far now that he knew they were looking for Spyro as well. That is unless he gave them something useful. After all, one less person looking for Spyro, gives them all the better chance of finding him themselves.

Hunter had to think carefully about this, asking himself, 'what do I know that no one else knows?'

"I can tell you that Spyro is close to someone, and I can tell you where she is. If you find her, you'll find Spyro."

Both birds gave Hunter an accusing look, and Skabb leaned forwards towards Hunter. Despite the fact that Skabb was dumb, his vastly larger body intimidated Hunter.

"So tell us Hunter everything you know about this girl-" Scratch started, before Sniff picked up after him.

"-and how you know he hangs out around her"

"and why are you asking for our help to find someone when you already know where they are?" they said at the same time.

Hunter took a moment to explain things. "Well you see she's the offspring of the first purple dragon, Malefor. As I'm sure you would understand she's quite the fighter." Both birds looked down at Skabb, while the wolf himself stared deeply at Hunter which made him feel uncomfortable. He wasn't sure what Skabb was doing, and neither one of the parrots where talking as they were too busy looking at their captain. Skabb was just starring at him, before he nodded his head.

"Hm looks like you're telling the truth." Scratch finally spoke.

Sniff look at Hunter and saw the confused looked on his face. "Skabb may be dumber than a sack of potatoes but he can tell if your lying or not. And it seems like you are telling the truth."

"Where is this girl and what does she look like?" asked Scratch, completely forgetting about the other questions they asked before.

Feeling a bit more comfortable now that they were the one's asking questions, Hunter leaned back in his chair. "I can't give away all of my secrets, that is not without you answer a couple of my questions first."

Scratch and Sniff glanced at one another, as if silently discussing what they should do. Sniff was the one to speak first. "Fine, you can have one question."

"And only one" Scratch added.

Hunter wasted no time in asking them his question. "Do you know if Spyro has already been captured, and if so, are they bringing him to Warfang, and where are they?"

Both birds gave him a strange look. "Is that really your question?" Scratch asked mockingly.

Snickering, Sniff continued the sentence "You must be dumber that Skabb. If someone had captured him already then we would already be there and steal him from them. Now it's time you answer our question. Where is the girl?"

Hunter gulped. He knew Cynder could take care of herself, but he wasn't sure if she could take on a whole crew of pirates. "She's on the other side of Warfang."

The moment Hunter said this Skabb shook his head. "YOUR LYING!" Sniff shouted. Skabb drew his sword and pointed it at Hunter neck.

Scratch leaned forwards and spoke in a threatening tone. "Tell us where the girl is or we'll force it out of you."

Hunter stared bitterly at the parrots. He thought about trying to run away, and he looked around the room for any possible exits, but he noticed that the other crew members had stopped what they were doing and had their hands on their weapons, and they were all gazing at Hunter. If he was going to escape, it would be in pieces unless he complied. "Fine, you caught me." He put his hands up in the air. "Her name is Cynder. She's a black female dragon with a Maroon underbelly. She has two silver horns that point straight out of her head and she wears four silver bracelets, a tail ring, and a choker."

Skabb lowered his sword and nodded his head. The parrots eased up and the rest of the crew went back to what they were doing. "Good, now get out of here before we cut you down!" Scratch still didn't look to happy. Taking his chance to escape with his life Hunter booked it out of there. Just as the door to the bar slammed shut Skabb raised his hand and waved on of the crew members over. Sniff looked at the pirate and said "Follow that fool, if he finds the girl or the purple dragon then report back to us." The pirate nodded his head and followed after Hunter.

* * *

Spyro slowly and painfully woke up after being passed out for a number of hours that he didn't know himself. All that he did know that it was day now, as there was more light pouring into the cave. Taking this chance, he took in his surroundings. There wasn't much to see in the direction he was facing, nothing more but a black wall of darkness where the light didn't reach, nothing that could help him.

Slowly he turned his body so that he could look behind him, his leg and arm still throbbing with pain as he shifted around. Spyro looked around the other half of the cave, again nothing all to notable other than a strange pile of rocks with a couple of red scales placed on top. In a way it reminded him of the grave that Cynder gave her mother. He tried to look closer at the pile and at the red scales on top of it, but he couldn't figure out if there was anything else on the pile. The only thing he could tell was that the pile of rocks was definitely made from an earth dragon, which he based on the fact that the rocks look like there where chucks taken out of a wall. So either it was made from an earth dragon or someone who was highly skilled at cutting stone.

The more he looked at the pile though the more a chilling thought passed over him. "Blast was a fire dragon, and Bolder was not only an earth dragon but one of Blast's best friends… So what if Bolder build it? And if he did, then that would mean that he was the one who captured me… me the one who killed… Blast…"

Before he could think about it anymore the shadow of an adult dragon entered the cave. With the sun pointing directly into the cave, Spyro could only see a silhouette of the dragon. He heard a threatening growl as the dragon stared back at him, causing Spyro to flinch in fear. The dragon shifted his body swiftly and a pill of stone jutted out from the ground and collided with Spyro's head. Black spots filled Spyro's vision before he passed out.

 **And there you have it, another chapter done. I must say that I'm surprised how fast this one came out, but I'll still try to post it as soon as I can. On a side note can we all agree that the names Scratch and Sniff are terrible names? I don't make them up either, Activition or whoever made the LoS games are the ones who gave the parrots those names. Come on now, they could have done a much better job am I right? Anyways, thank you all for reading this story, I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.**


	6. Chapter 6

Slowly, Spyro began to wake up again in the white void that was his dream scape. Much like before buildings, roads, and other decorative furniture rose up from the emptiness. Unlike last time though, Spyro found himself in a more open area, a city square. The tan brick road laid neatly alongside one another, the road expanding as far as the eye could see.

Spyro clutched his head, wincing from the slight pain. He could feel a small trace of a bruise from the blow to his head. Doing his best to ignore the bump, he looked around the landscape, wondering where and when his alter-ego would show up. Looking around the place, there was nothing to special about it. The little area he imagined up was rather empty, though he rather liked it. Living in the city for most of his life, it felt nice to see and empty area. Even the empty white sky had this peaceful appeal to it.

The more he pondered about it, the more he thought that, if it wasn't for Cynder he'd probably try and stay in here the rest of his life. A shiver ran down his spine when really thought about that thought. 'Sure I would be in a peaceful world for the rest of my life.' He thought to himself. 'but in the real world I would just be dying….' His body should at the mere thought of that. 'to waist away in your own body while your mind roams free in your own head….'

"Well that's a pretty morbid thing to think about Spyro." Turning around, Spyro watched Dark Spyro slowly walk up to him. "I mean, I know I've thought of a couple dark things, but that seems a little much don't you think? We can't have you killing yourself now can we?"

Spyro didn't replay to this question, though he did considered the option of killing himself. Who would miss him? Cynder had proven her point, she was done with him. "What do you want?" He asked trying to push these thoughts away for the moment. He knew his dark counter half would jump on any opportunity to make him feel even more shitty.

"What do I want?" Dark Spyro looked at him like he just said the dumbest thing in the world. "What you should be asking is what are we going to do about this guy whose got you captured."

Spyro just sort of shrugged. "I don't know… should we really do anything at all?" He thought back to those words Cynder said. He felt so alone, and maybe whatever plans this guy has for him would be for the best.

"Are you really still moping over what that bitch said?" Dark Spyro walked over and stood beside his counterpart and placed a paw on his shoulder, almost in a comforting way. "Look, you shouldn't worry about that right now. Right now you should be working on escaping. I'm not going to let you die."

"I don't think he wants to kill me" Spyro didn't bother looking at Dark Spyro. "I mean, sure he knocked me out, twice even… but you forget that he also bandaged up our leg and arm."

"And you think that, that's enough evidence to trust this guy?" his dark half asked questionably. Obviously, Dark Spyro didn't trust this man, nor did he think that Spyro should either, but Spyro was interested to see who this person was, and why he went through the trouble of patching him up.

"Well it's my body, and I'm not going to do anything until I at least know who this guy is." Dark Spyro let out a small growl.

"Spyro I've given you plenty of time to roam in your body." His voice was cold and sharp, and each word sent shivers down Spyro's spine. "I've let you control your body because that is your role. But you making too many stupid mistakes for me to count, and if this continues, I will have to control you myself. Permanently." Spyro didn't understand what Dark Spyro meant, what role was he playing, and how was he going to control him, and if he could why didn't he do it before? Before he could ask any of these questions his counterpart had disappeared, leaving Spyro back in the empty town even more confused than ever. He tried calling out for his dark half, but there was no reply, just pure silence.

 **(Line Break)**

Once Cynder woke up again, with the 'help' of Sparx no less, she and her annoying pest partner went out in search for Spyro. As they walked, they didn't speak at all, much to Cynder's own delight. In fact, the only noise coming from the golden bug was the hum of his wings and he flew beside her. When Sparx wasn't talking, or hitting her with a stick, she had to admit, it was rather nice to be around someone new. Sure he wanted to capture Spyro and do whatever it was dragonflies do with that much money, but it's not like he had a chance of capturing Spyro in the first place. She stopped for a seconded. 'Spyro can defeat a lone dragonfly right?' She thought. It wasn't like her to doubt Spyro this much, and she quickly cursed herself for thinking such a thing.

"Hey get your butt into gear princess, lets gooooo!" Sparx buzzed around her head.

"Sparx," Cynder tried her hardest not to take a swipe at the bug. "How do you plan on fighting him. You're not equipped, nor do you possess anything that could help you defeat him." Her idea was more to frighten him, in hopes that it would get Sparx to leave her alone for a little while, or better yet for good.

"Hey I beat you didn't I?" Cynder felt her pride being challenged, and it took all of her will power not to fight back. She figured he was talking about before, when they first met. She just got some shut eye and was too tired to care about him. She wasn't sure why he considered that a win. Regardless she rolled with it anyways.

"Fair enough, but this is the purple dragon we are talking about here. This isn't just some common dragon; this is the Legendary Purple Dragon. What does a single dragonfly like yourself have to stand against him?"

Sparx just floated along, choosing not to answer her question. Cynder could tell that what she just asked hit him pretty hard. She had to admit, Sparx had some guts. Either that or he was a fool. But still to throw himself into danger knowing he probably didn't stand a chance? It was only a little amount, but Cynder was rather impressed by her companion.

"CYNDER!" Hunter's voice called out all of a sudden through the silence which made Sparx 'jump' back in fright from the noise. Cynder stopped where she was and turned around to see her furry friend run towards them.

Sparx hovered over to Cynder's ear and whispered "Say who's this guy?"

"A friend of mine," Cynder answered quicker than Sparx would have liked. She brushed him off and walked towards Hunter to close the distance quicker. "So any news about Spyro, is he in Warfang?" she tried not to sound too worried, not in front of Sparx at least. Hunter shook his head and Cynder let out a sigh of relief.

"He's still out there, don't you worry." Hunter looked rather happy himself to be saying this. "However there are a lot of people looking for him, so please just keep cheerful alright?" Cynder nodded.

"Of course Hunter, this is me we are talking about." She scoffed playfully. Sparx flew right into Hunter's face just as Cynder finished talking, causing Hunter to lean back a little.

"So am I going to have to split the reward with this guy as well?" he turned towards Cynder, giving her a curious look.

Cynder just rolled her eyes, almost wishing she wasn't reminded of Sparx's true motives. "No, it's just going to be you and me. Hunter here is just my informant. Now if you will excuse us, we need to talk some more." Sparx just hovered there in place, giving her this look that told her to continue and not to mind him. She rolled her eyes. "Alone, please?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure I guess…. Just don't take too long now." Much to Cynder's oh happiness, Sparx flew off a couple of feet.

Once Sparx was out of ear shot, Hunter asked, "So what's with the bug?"  
"He kind of decided that he wanted to tag along. He thinks he can take on Spyro, so I'm letting him come with me. After all another pair of eyes could always help."

Hunter glanced over to Sparx who was chasing after this butterfly. "And he thinks you're going to capture Spyro and give him the reward?"

Cynder thought about it for a moment. "Well yeah, that is what he thinks, but I'm not going to do anything. Once we find Spyro I'm ditching him."

Hunter felt that it was rather wrong what Cynder was doing, but if it got the job done…. "Anyways, I'm here to warn you that…. Well I may have sent…" For once Cynder watched as Hunter grew nervous. "A bunch of pirates to hunt you down." Cydner's mouth fell open.

"You did what!? Why?" she tried her best to keep her voice down.

Hunter waved his hands, trying to calm her down. "Look I'm sorry, I was just trying to get some info out of them. I can assure you though that Spyro is not at Warfang…."

"Well that's good, now I just have to worry about some blood thirsty pirates now, great." She said rolling her eyes.

"Look I know this is bad, but they have no idea where you are, only what you look like." He tried giving her a reassuring smile. "And let's not forget your pretty strong on your own, and now you even have me to help you in case they show up. Trust me, nothing is going to happen."

Cynder looked up at her furry friend for a little bit in silence, as if judging if what he was saying was any good at all. "Oh right, I'll take your word for it." She turned to continue her search for her mate, but before she got to far, she looked back at Hunter. "Thanks by the way. Really, for all of your help."

Hunter's iconic smile came back to his face and he walked up beside her. "No problem. Now why don't we go find the purple drake of yours."

 **Hey guys sorry this chapter took so long, and I'm sorry for it being rather short. This chapter was a huge pain in my butt and I was just tired of it taking so long, which is why it's rather short. Again sorry for that.**


	7. Chapter 7

Spyro's eyes slowly fluttered open, only to close a second later as a wave of exhaustion washed over the purple drake. Who knew that being knocked out twice could leave someone tired. Spyro wanted nothing more than to just lie there and fall back asleep. That is until he remembered where he was. In a cave with a stranger who seems to enjoy hitting people in the head. Opening his eyes just a crack, he looked around the cave. He didn't see anyone, or at least in front of him, nor did he hear anyone, so he figured that he was once again alone in the cave.

A small smile appeared on Spyro's face as he was relieved that he could just relax for a moment without having to worry about being knocked out again. With this moment he thought about what his dark half had said to him while he was passed out. He knew that Dark Spyro had a point, this dragon could mean a lot of trouble for him, but somewhere he just knew there had to be a reason why he was still here in this cave. If this dragon wanted him dead then he would be dead by now, if this dragon wanted to take him in, then why was he still in the same cave? Just thinking about all the reason why he was still there made his head hurt and he tried to think about something else for the time being.

That's when Spyro thought about what his dark half said just before leaving. "I've let you control your body because that is your role" the words seemed to echo in Spyro's mind. He tried to piece together just exactly what he meant by that and the more he thought about it the more of a theory was formed. Spyro assumed that Dark Spyro was his fears personified as Dark Spyro only took over his body in extreme cases, like when Blast tried to kill Cynder. Thinking about that moment made his heart sink a little. Still if Dark Spyro's role was to be his fear, then what role did the actual Spyro play, and are there other personas in his mind that he has not met yet?

Before he could think about it anymore, the wind picked up and the smell of food, cooked salmon to be exact, hit his nostrils. Sniffing the air like a dog, he followed the scent with his head until he saw a line of fish laid out about a foot from the right of him. He reached out a paw to try and grab one so he didn't have to stand up, but the food was too far from him, so he tried to stand again. He felt pain in his bandaged limbs, but it was much more bearable this time, though that might be due to the fact that Spyro was to focused on the food in front of him to care about anything else. If anyone was watching him, they would pity him or possibly smile with glee as he pathetically limped over to the fish like a dying animal. Spyro shoved his face into the food laid out for him, paying no mind to any dirt or rocks that he swallowed with the mouthfuls of fish that he gobbled down.

His body shook with each bit he took. He stopped to think for just a second, 'how long have I been knocked out?' but this thought was tucked away quickly when his stomached growled again, pleading that he continue to shovel food down his throat. A small piece fell out of his mouth and landed on the ground. Leaning down to the small piece he licked it up, paying little attention to the gravel he picked up with it. All he could think about was the food in front of him, and how much he needed more. It had felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks, which was very likely.

'It feels good to have food in my belly again' Spyro thought as he laid down on his back, looking up at the ceiling of the cave. In that moment he pushed aside any thoughts of where he was, why he was here, what he is doing here and who helped him. For once in a really long time Spyro felt happy, even if he was being ignorant to the satiation at hand.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps hit his ears, and claws scrapping along the ground, telling Spyro that it was a dragon that was moving around. Most likely belonging to whoever it was who has been 'helping' him. He slowly moved back over to his side and remained still, as if that would help him. He shut his eyes, thinking that maybe the dragon would think that he is still asleep and wouldn't hit his head again. He silently cursed himself for being such a messy eater and he prayed that the dragon would pay no attention to the mess he'd made with the fish or the bones.

The footsteps where slow and heavy. 'Definitely an adult.' Spyro tried closing his eye even harder and tried to keep his body still, but it kept on shaking. The questions that he asked his dark half resurfaced again. 'Who is this guy, what does he want with me, why am I here, what is he going to do?' all of these raced in his mind more and more. The footsteps stopped for a moment, probably the person had stopped to looked at the memorial that they had laid out. This didn't last long though as they started to walk again, and with their footsteps growing louder, Spyro assumed that he or she was walking towards him.

His mind thought of the worst possible outcomes. His thoughts drifted to Cynder and how he was never going to see her again, he thought about the last things she said about him, how he was a failure and that she couldn't stand it. And it was true, it was all true, all he could do here was sit and wait for this person to kill him or worse, turn him over to Warfang. He was nothing more than a worthless being.

"Prove them wrong." Came a voice in Spyro head. It wasn't Dark Spyro's voice though, as this one didn't have any malice in its tone, no this was…. a soothing and calm voice… something that he had not heard before.

"Who are you?" Spyro asked the voice in his head, still trying his best to seem still.

"Open your eyes and get up." The voice answered.

Spyro faltered. "I don't know if I can."

"You can and you must! Do it, or else I will take back what is rightfully mine."

Spyro felt his heart skip a beat. "Who are you?" the voice didn't answer. He wasn't sure if he should listen to the voice or not. His body shuttered as the dragon took one last step before stopping. He gulped, knowing the dragon was looming over him now. This was made all the more apparent as the dragon standing next to him, nudged him with his paw.

He thought about the voice in his head, thinking that maybe he should listen to him, not that he had much of a chose. He wasn't sure what he feared more, the dragon in front of him or the voice in his head and what it might do to him if he disobeys. 'Well…. It's now or never.' He mustered up as much courage as he could and slowly began to stand up. He kept his eyes tightly shut, still fearing the dragon in front of him. It wasn't until he was fully sitting on his hunches when he opened his eyes.

Any form of bravery that Spyro managed to build up disappeared the moment he opened his eyes. His body felt weak, his legs began to shake, and there was no voice in his head to tell him what to do. Not this time. Spyro felt the dragon's name hit his throat. He wanted to say his name but a wad of fear kept it trapped in his body. Spyro gulped as he stared back at the dragon before him. They stayed in silence as they just looked at one another. The fact that the dragon in front of him hasn't done anything since Spyro began to move gave him enough courage to speak the dragon's name.

"Terrador." He said shakily.

His father said nothing back, instead he kept this dull yet oddly worried look in his eyes. When nothing was said by Terrador, Spyro thought for a moment that this was just a dream. However, when he tried to take a step back away from his dad, the pain that burst through his broken leg reminded him that this was real. Terrador was really standing before him once again.

 **(Line Break)**

Sparx, Cynder, and Hunter continued their search through the mountains for Spyro, still having no luck, when Sparx's belly started to rumble. "Ugh I'm hungry." The insect wined.

Cynder had to hold herself back from swatting the bug, as this was the third time in the past two minutes that Sparx had complained about his empty stomach. "If we stop to eat will you shut your mouth for five minutes?" Hunter placed a paw on Cynder's shoulders in hopes to calm her down.

Sparx thought about the offer and gave her a small shrug. He put his fingers to his lips and used an imaginary key to lock them shut. Cynder nodded. "Thank you." As promised she sat down, along with Hunter. The cheetah pulled from his sack on his back some meat they had gotten from a wild boar they found and cooked the other day and handed some to Cynder. Sparx started to buzz around, catching whatever smaller bugs he could find. Taking this moment of silence Cynder asked her furry companion what they should do if they don't find Spyro here.

Hunter stroked his chin. "Well, my next best guess as to where he might be would be in the meadows past these mountains. Where he might be hiding there, I wouldn't have a clue."

Content with that answer, Cynder ate the rest of her food in silence, completely unaware that someone was watching her and the other two far above them. Up the side of the mountain that they were on was another cheetah watching the group down below. She wore a very similar outfit to the pirates that Hunter had talked to a couple of days ago. A large toothy grin formed along her face as she reached for something along her belt, pulled out some black rocks which she used to ignite a wick. She set down the object in her paw and gave it a small kick, letting gravity take the it to its intended targets.

It rolled down the cliff side and got snagged on a small bunch of rocks sticking out the side. Sparx looked towards the face of the cliff that he and the rest of his group where sitting next to, and notice a few pebbles rolling down the side. Looking up from where they came from, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Still something in his gut told him that something was off. He flew back over to Cynder and Hunter and pulled out the fake key from his none existent pocket and unlocked his lips.

"Hey Cynder, will you give me a moment, I saw some tasty butterflies the way we came from. I just want to grab a few and then we can get going again."

Cynder mere rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just don't take long." She said figuring the longer he was away from her, the less of his voice she would have to hear. Still she wanted to search for Spyro some more soon. With a nod from the bug, Sparx flew off.

The cheetah above the group watched as Sparx flew off, but ultimately paid him no mind. He wasn't the target after all. The pirate looked down the hill again and watched as the last of the wick disappeared in the black ball, followed by a large explosion.

 **(Alright and the identity of the dragon has been revealed, I know a lot of you where wanting to know who he was, and I hope you weren't disappointed with this reveal. As always I'll try to get the next chapter posted as soon as possible. Take care everyone.)**


	8. Chapter 8

"Spyro…." Terrador's voice suddenly hit his son's ears, causing the young dragon to flinch. Spyro felt like his body was turning to stone, he felt heavy, and it was hard to breath. This didn't stop his body for shaking though. Terrador watched as his son nearly passed out from the fear. Watching this, he sighed and turned around and began to walk away from Spyro, back over to the pile of stones Spyro saw before.

This confused Spyro, and the fact that he wasn't struck helped calm him down a little, at least enough for him to relax. Spyro took the moment to watch his father, as the adult stared down at the monument in front of him. Spyro didn't understand exactly what he was doing, though he figured that he was praying or at least something similar. All he knew was that he had seen Cynder do something like this once when he watched her visit her mother's grave.

They both sat there in silence, making it feel a little awkward for Spyro. Here he was with someone who use to torment him all of his childhood, whom he hasn't seen in years, and they are just sitting there as if nothing had happened in the past. Spyro wasn't sure how long they sat there, but when Terrador stood back up, he jumped back, preparing himself to run if he needed to. This didn't go unnoticed by his dad.

He sighed. "I'm not going to hurt you Spyro" Terrador's voice seemed deeper than he remembered, though there where a few things that were different from when he last saw him. The most notable was his fading green scales, a sign that Terrador was growing old.

Naturally Spyro didn't believe what his father had said, and didn't change from his stance which made Terrador sigh again. At this point Spyro noticed that Terrador looked tired, though he wasn't sure if it was from a lack of sleep, or from something else. Terrador walked towards the entrance of the cave, giving Spyro a perfect chance to run away if he wanted it. That is, if it wasn't for his broken leg and arm. Terrador soon came back, bringing with him a satchel and set it down in front of Spyro. The flap fell open when Terrador knocked it over, letting several red gems to roll out.

Spyro was shocked to say the least and he looked back up at his father, wondering if this was some sort of trick. He stared at his father, waiting for him to hit him, smite him, or do something that would hurt him. But Terrador didn't do anything except look back at him with the same tired look in his eyes.

"Are…. These for me?" Spyro felt the need to ask.

"Of course they are, why would I give them to you if I didn't want you to have them?" Terrador scolded. Spyro winced, this was the Terrador that he remembered. He still wasn't sure if he could trust his dad, but he still slowly reached out for a red crystal and grabbed it. He looked back up at his dad, who wasn't paying any attention to him as he was looking back down at the pile of rocks and scales. Feeling more confident that Terrador wont bash his head in, Spyro broke the gem and let its shards heal his wounds.

Surprisingly, he felt a lot better. "Thank yo-"

"Don't thank me!" Terrador hissed making Spyro falter. "Just finish up and get out!" Spyro didn't need to be told twice and he tested out his once broken limbs just to make sure they didn't still hurt. Once this was done, he started to walk towards what he figured was the entrance, but he stopped half way. Something was bothering him about this whole thing.

"Um….. dad?" Spyro turned towards his father. Terrador closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh, as if he knew Spyro would do this.

"What?"

Well, um…." Spyro felt very nervous all of a sudden, though that is to be expected if you were trying to ask something of your childhood tormenter.

"Out with it already!" Terrador shouted.

Spyro gulped and nodded. "Why…. Why did you help me?"

Terrador looked away from Spyro and looked down at the monument again and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, Spyro noticed that they looked a little watery. This was the closet Spyro has ever seen his father to crying. "Because, Spyro…. I made a promise…. To your mother before she left us."

As he had thought, there where his mother's scales on the pile of stones, and yet oddly he felt very sad to find this out, to find out his mom was dead. "What happened to her."

All of a sudden, the look in Terrador's eyes changed from sadness to rage. Spyro lowered his body to the floor and began to back away. "You happened Spyro!" Terrador's voice boomed across the walls. "It's because of your existence that she's dead!" Spyro try to quickly run, but a wall of stone burst out of the ground behind to, keeping him from leaving, and before he could do anything, Terrador grabbed him by his neck and pinned him to the ground. Spyro could feel most of Terrador's weight bare down on his throat and he began to gasp for air while his limps flailed about. Spyro thought he was going to pass out again, when Terrador let go of him.

Spyro got up and began to gasp for breath. As he was panting he heard his father speak again. "Or at least that is what I try to tell myself." Spyro was confused, did his father hate him or not? He wasn't even sure if his father knew if he did nor not either. The wall behind Spyro fell down and he was tempted to leave when Terrador continued his story.

"Life was fine once you left… me and your mother managed to make a living, and we had a joyful life." A small smile crept along Terrador's face as he relived the past. "We even talked about having another child… one that wasn't filth." Spyro felt his heart sink, but he continued to listen anyways. "However, the people of Warfang started to panic as rumors of you amassing an army started to spread. People feared that we would have another war on our hands, similar to the one with Malefor. Soon riots broke out all over the place, and during the most recent one….." Terrador bit back the last words. Spyro noticed Terrador's body tighten, claws dig into the stone, and him grinding his teeth together. It wasn't very hard for Spyro to figure out what happened to his mother next.

"Nova, my sweet flower, died because of you!" Terrador suddenly turned towards his son and growled at him. Spyro was about to run away, but his dad's body slumped. "She died because of what I did to you. If I was a better father, a real father to you… Nova would still be alive…." Spyro wasn't sure how to feel. Sitting before him was one of the biggest evils in his childhood, the man who has beaten him, strangled him, and put him on death's door on more than one occasion. And now… Spyro couldn't help but pity the dragon. "Before your mother died, she asked me that if I ever find you, that I'd apologies for everything we've done to you." Terrador began to chuckle.

"I never actually thought I would see you again. I was hoping I wouldn't. I didn't know what I would do when I did, and I still don't. But then I saw you just lying there in a pile of rubble, dying. Part of me wanted to just leave you there to rot, while another part told me to finish the job… but it was Nova's words the kept me from doing any of that." Terrador's gaze shifted back to his son. "Spyro don't take my words for granted, I still hate you with every fiber of my being, and if I had it my way, I would kill you where you stand… but… at the same time… I can't bring myself to do that. Spyro…"

"Spyro…" his father went on, his head hanging low. "I'm sorry for putting you through hell all of your life. I'm sorry that we treated you like a slave, I'm sorry for never treating you the way I should have… like my son… Spyro… I'm sorry."

Spyro's jaw dropped. He wanted to speak, to say something, but he wasn't able to, he was in too much shock. He had dreamed that maybe someday this would happen, but he never actually thought it would. He did the only thing he could think and walked up to Terrador and placed a paw on his arm. Terrador looked back down at Spyro, looking as shocked as he did. Spyro noticed that his body was trembling and before he knew it, Terrador had wrapped Spyro in a hug, tears now streaming down his face. Spyro's body stiffened, but slowly he relaxed, and actually began to smile. He pressed his body against his dad's and hugged him back and just listened quietly as his father repeated his words.

"Spyro… I'm sorry."

 **So I know this was a short chapter, and I know how you guys feel about any chapter under 2000 words, but I felt like this was a good place to end this one. Now if you guys disagree feel free to comment about that, but if I am to be honest with all of you, I just didn't want to ruin this moment.**

 **Now I would really like it if you guys can tell me how good I did with this moment, could I have done better, or did I perfect this moment? I feel like I've gotten out of touch with emotional moments, so I really want to hear from you guys how I did. Thank you all for reading.**


	9. Chapter 9

The ground started to shake, and the sound of an explosion echoed in the cave Terrador and Spyro were in, making the two pull apart from the sudden noise.

"What was that?" Spyro asked confused by what made the noise.

Wanting to know himself, Terrador walked out towards the entrance of the cave, with Spyro following right behind him. Terrador noticed that some dark clouds where quickly drawing in, probably a storm, he figured. The storm clouds nearly hid the rising tower of smoke, which rose from over the other side of the mountain.

"What do you think caused that?" Spyro had to ask, a little worried about who, or what, could have made those noises.

Terrador watched the smoke a little longer, as if trying to figure it out himself. "Well" he said after a brief pause. "It could be a couple of things. Judging by the clouds up ahead, it could have been just some thunder." Spyro was pretty skeptical about that.

"But the ground shook dad, and that didn't sound like thunder."

"The shaking ground could have been lightning, but your probably right… in that case it could have been someone with black powder. It can be used to make explosions, to help clear rubble and other debris… but as far as I can tell this part of the mountain is pretty solid, and I can't recall any path being blocked… So for what purpose they need black powder for, I wouldn't know."

"Should we do go check it out?"

Terrador shook his head. "We are not going to do anything. There is a storm coming, and it's unwise to travel around this elevation with a storm afoot. On top of that, you're a wanted dragon Spyro. If that was caused by someone, there is a good chance they've seen the wanted poster with your face on it."

This news took Spyro by surprise. "Wait, when were there wanted posters of me? I thought King Flame only sent small search parties for me?"

Terrador merely shrugged. "I don't know when he sent them out, but I saw one recently. For whatever reason he's put your face all over Avalar, and people are searching for you…" Spyro slowly began to worry and even panic. It was bad enough that some people were looking for him, but he wasn't sure if he could handle all of Avalar.

Noticing this worry in his facial features, Terrador continued. "If it makes you feel any better, the posters say that he wants you alive…. So that should count for something I guess."

Spyro walked back into the cave, feeling safer inside then out in the open, now more than ever. Terrador groaned. He figured this would have been easier, being an actual responsible parent that is. He felt a drop of rain hit his noise and he looked up towards the clouds again, the scent of fresh rain filled the air. He walked back inside shortly after, listening to the gentle rain drops as it began to rain.

While the rain started to poor down even harder, Terrador lit a small campfire for the two of them. They didn't speak much, though Terrador figured he'd said enough already. It was best to just let Spyro handle this news on his own until he is willing to speak again. Spyro, surprisingly was taking it rather well. Though the news of Flame putting a bounty on his head was very surprising, he figured that he had already survived this long, so what difference would it make if more people started looking.

'Well…. I did have Cynder and Hunter to help me…' Spyro thought, regretting his decision to leave them in the first place. 'I shouldn't have left. I should have just talked about it with Cynder…' He thought, feeling his body ache as his depression grew.

"You just can't seem to make the right decisions can you?" came Dark Spyro voice, echoing in his head once more.

"Not now, I'm not in the mood." Spyro rolled his eyes and groaned. Dark Spyro was the last person he wanted to listen to at the moment.

"Oh come on, that's no way to treat me, now is it? I'm the only one who hasn't fully given up on you." Somehow that didn't make Spyro feel any better.

"Be grateful Spyro." Came the unknown voice again in his head. Whoever it was he sounded bitter. "You don't deserve a lot of things that life has given you. Be thankful that he has any faith in you at all."

"HEY!" shouted Dark Spyro. "Now you don't have to go and tell him that." The other voice didn't reply.

"Who are you?" Spyro butted in, hoping to get some reply from this voice as well. The new voice was silent, to which Dark Spyro began to chuckle.

"And what is so funny?" Spyro asked.

"Oh nothing. Nothing that you really need to know. All I'll say is that he really hates you."

"Wouldn't that in turn mean he hates you? You are a part of me aren't you?"

"Maybe" Dark Spyro said with a shrugged. "But at the very least he talks to me. So that has to count for something right?"

Spyro began to grumble. "Everything alright?" Terrador looked down at Spyro, hearing him mumble something. Spyro looked away. "No, I'm fine." Terrador gave him a skeptical expression. Thankfully he didn't press any further, and went back to whatever it is he was done.

Spyro adjusted himself on the floor before continuing the conversation. "Hey since your willing to talk now, can you at least tell me something about this other voice?"

"What is there to say? He's a great guy, not very talkative, at least not with you. Me and him have talked a bit while you were asleep, you probably don't remember what we've said though…. He's not very happy with you, which is the main reason why I like him."

He grunted, frustrated with Dark Spyro. "But who is he? Why does he hate me? What have I done to make him hate me?" Spyro only heard his counterpart chuckle for a while before speaking.

"Now what fun would it be in telling you? Who he is, I'll keep as a secret. You'll learn one day, when he is willing to confront you. Or if you do something really stupid. Either way, I'll tell you this. Not only has he been with us since you made me, but he also hates you more than I do, which really says a lot when you think about it." Spyro laid silent for some time. How long has this voice been there, why has he only started talking now. Who was he? The sound of his dark half yawning, echoed in his ear. "I think I'll go take a nap now."

"Wait!" Spyro shouted in his mind. "Please answer me!"

He heard Dark Spyro sigh, leaving Spyro wondering if his alternate ego really needed sleep. "What can I tell you Spyro. It's your mind. Figure it out yourself." Spyro fell silent, unsure what to even say. Spyro questioned if it really was his mind. He already shared it with his dark half. He wasn't sure if he capable of dealing with a third entity inside of him.

Spyro's clenched is paws together, as he mentally added yet another thing onto the list of things he can't do. He was growing worried by how fast this list was growing. Before he could mentally torment himself any further, Terrador stood up and looked towards the entrance.

From beyond the mouth of the cave, there was a voice that could be heard. It was small, but there was definitely a voice coming outside, though the sound of the heavy rain didn't make it easy to hear. All Terrador could tell was that they were coming closer, since the voice was growing louder and louder. He was shouting, Terrador figured, but to whom, he had no idea. There were no other voices out there, or at least, none that he could hear.

"Oh thank the ancestors!" came the voice. "A cave." The voice made a loud grunting sound, as if he was pulling on something. "Come on you two, move it, or else I'm leaving you both out here!"

Terrador looked over to Spyro and silently motioned his son to move to the far back of the cave, where the light from the fire didn't reach. Spyro obeyed and ran to the other side of the room, and hid behind some of the stalagmites. Not long after he hid, a Cheetah walked in, dripping wet from the rain. He stopped when he noticed Terrador standing beside the camp fire.

"Oh hey, there." The cheetah waved a paw at the dragon. "I hope you don't mind if I borrow some room in the cave till it stops raining out there." The feline said politely. Whoever he was, he at least had some manners. Spyro peeked his head over the side to try to get a better look at what this guy looked like. The guy was a cheetah, that was obvious by his yellow fur and black spots that covered his body. He was wearing a strange outfit though, or at least strange to him. Nothing like the ones he had seen Hunter wear. His pants were tattered slightly, mostly around his knees. His long black pants that hung past his ankles was only held up by the large brown belt, which made Spyro wonder why he was wearing something too large for him.

But what he found even odder, was his lack of a shirt. The cheetah looked a little muscular, but it was hard to tell from all of his matted, wet, and dirt covered fur. However, it was the large sword and black spheres that hung from his belt that made Spyro worried. He wasn't sure what those black objects were, but he knew they couldn't be anything good.

Terrado thought for a moment about the stranger's request. Spyro was safe in the back for all he knew, and if something did go wrong, he could always fight. The cheetah didn't look that strong in his eyes. Terrador looked up and down the cheetah's body, searching for any other weapons he could be hiding. The explosives would definitely be a problem, however, Terrador was riding on the thought that the cheetah wouldn't use them in such a small space if they ever did get into a fight. "Sure, I suppose you can stay. Please, come join me by the fire."

The cheetah seemed pleased to hear him say this. The cheetah pulled on a rope behind him, which Spyro didn't notice till now. He watched as this man pulled in both Hunter and Cynder, both tied up around their mouths, arms, legs, and Cynder's tail and wings. The moment Cynder saw Terrador, she began to freeze, her mind drifting back to the last time they met. She remembered that she hurt his wife. Cynder could only pry that he forgot about her.

"Cynder!" Spyro gasped, his voice echoing much further then he meant it to. Immediately, the Cheetah looked towards the direction the voice came from and squinted his eyes, trying to pick out who said that. Cynder and Hunter both picked up the voice as well, though they couldn't tell where it came from.

Terrador did his best to draw his attention back. "My apologies," he said quickly. The cheetah looked back over to Terrador who was now looking down at Cynder, looking at her with discuss, which made Cynder back away as far as the rope would let her. The cheetah was quick to pick up what was going on, thinking that it was Terrador's voice he heard.

"You know this dragon?"

Terrador nodded. "Yes, I know her, I know her well. This harlot tried to kill my mate just so that that bastard purple dragon could escape." Spyro grew worried. He wasn't sure if this was just an act or if he really did feel those things. Terrador dug his claws into the ground, and he began to snarl at her. He looked like he was going to attack her at any moment, when the cheetah stepped in front of her.

"As much as I would love to see you rip her apart, I'm afraid that I can't let you do that."

"And why not?" Terrador directed his anger towards the feline.

The cheetah placed his paw on the hilt of his sword. "Because my captain asked me to bring her to him. We are going to use her to find someone. I don't need to explain any further. Once we are done, I will personally bring her back and hand her over to you." Slowly the pirate moved his paw away from his weapon and offered it to Terrador. "So I ask you. If you spare her for now, I'll bring her back here when we are done with her."

Terrador's anger dwindled slowly and he sat down on his haunches. "Fine, we have a deal." This made the cheetah smile.

"Splendid, I'm glad to hear that." The cheetah walked back over to the other side of the campfire and sat down as well. Hunter and Cynder sat down as well. They both were worried about what was going to happen to them, and what this pirate wanted from them. Cynder couldn't help but stare at Terrador, who would continually look down at her and silently snarl at her before turning back to the fire.

Spyro sat there watching them, growing increasingly nervous by the moment. He tried to think up a plan to save his friends and the thought of rushing the cheetah crossed his mind. The cheetah didn't know he was there, and he would catch him off guard. Maybe even Terrador will help him take this guy down. It would just be like all those time Hunter tried to teach him hunting. A plan in mind, Spyro took one step forwards, only to freeze.

'I can't do this, I'm just going to get Cynder and Hunter killed if I go out there. The moment that guy sees me, he'll kill all of us' He tried shaking his head. 'No! I can do this. Hunter and Cynder must have weakened him a little. There is no way they could have been caught so easily. They were probably out looking for me when they came across him and got caught.' He body began to slump. 'They got caught because I was too weak, because I ran away.' Spyro hit his head against the stalagmites. 'It's my fault, it's all my fault.' His body began to shake, and his head started to pound.

"I'm weak," He started to mumble. "I'm stupid." He laid down on all fours, still hidden completely. "I'm a complete and utter failure."

 **Sorry guys that this one took so long to post. In case you guys didn't know, working retail in December is not a lot of fun, believe it or not. So yeah, I do promise not to take so long next time to post the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

Spyro wasn't sure how long he sat there waiting. He had hoped that once the pirate had fallen sleep he could free his friends and get out, but the pirate never fell asleep and he grew tired waiting rather quickly. He shook his head trying to keep his eyes from drooping which helped him stay away for about half a minute but no longer than that. Terrador and the pirate where sitting there in silence, making him wonder how they managed to stay awake this long. Peaking around the corner again, Spyro watched as the pirate was fiddling around with a stick, drawing or writing something into the dirt. He would use the same stick to poke the fire to keep it going, and let the stick catch on fire before putting it out again by drawing something in the dirt.

Terrador was just watching the fire and glancing over to his monument to Nova every now and then. Obviously he was thinking about her, though Spyro had to wonder if his parents went through something similar before.

Both Cynder and Hunter where asleep, or at least that is what it looked like. For all he knew they were just pretending to sleep, and where going to jump out of there bindings and escape.

"I hope so" Spyro mumbled under his breath. Hiding his head again, Spyro did everything he could to stay awake. He pinched himself, he bit his tongue, and he tried to keep himself busy but it was the fear of being heard that kept him from moving too much. It wasn't long before he ended up falling asleep.

Spyro found himself back in his dream world, the white void. He figured his counterpart, or at least one of them, would show up eventually so he took the time to use his imagination to create the scenery. Trees began to sprout from the ground and grew to the size of buildings, and their branches stretched as far as the eye could see. Grass and dirt formed at his paws and glowing flowers sprung up to light up the otherwise dark forest, filling the place up with a variety of blues, greens, and oranges. Though it was just a dream, Spyro's nose was assaulted by different forest smells, and there was even a gently breeze the shook the leaves.

Looking around to admire his work, Spyro thought it seemed rather peaceful. He wasn't sure where he had seen a place like this, but it felt like he had seen this place before, or at least a place that looked familiar. He shrugged, figuring he saw it in a book or something.

It didn't take him very long to notice that some of the plants and tress started to wilt and decay, and even started to turn a sickly black, no doubt a sigh that he was about to show up.

"Hey there buddy." Dark Spyro called as he walked up to his counterpart. "Been a while since I see you in here." He knocked on Spyro's head like a door. Spyro shook him off.

"What do you want now?"

Dark Spyro merely shrugged. "Do I really need a reason? I live here after all."

"Well if your just here to bother me, then why don't you just leave already!" Spyro tried his best to look fearless as he bared his teeth and growled at his dark counterpart as he tried to scare him off. This only made Dark Spyro laugh.

"Really? That's the best you got?" he said, not phased at all by Spyro's fear tactics. Dropping the act, Spyro looked downwards glumly. Dark Spyro put a wing over his back. "Hey don't feel to sad, not all of us can be as strong as I am." This earned a sharp shove from Spyro, pushing Dark Spyro away.

"I don't want your sympathy. You've gotten me nothing but trouble."

"No, you've gotten yourself into trouble. It was I who's gotten you out of it."

"Killing someone isn't helping me! In fact, you made things much worse when you killed Blast. Everyone in Warfang would still hate me, but at least I would still be able to live there! Now I have to run for my life from everyone, and risk the lives of both Hunter and Cynder."

Dark Spyro pretended to look hurt. "Hey, if I didn't kill him then he would continue to torment you. Eventually you would have kill him yourself without my help."

"What? No! I wouldn't have ever done that!" Spyro refused to believe that he would have gone that far, not with someone like Cynder by his side to help keep him in check.

"Oh trust me, I should know far more than you would about how your brain works."

"And why is that? You are just the embodiment of my fears and nothing more!" Dark Spyro flared his wings, making Spyro jump back in fright as his counterpart looked ready to strike him.

"Listen Spyro!" Dark Spyro growled. Unlike his own attempt, Dark Spyro knew how to instill fear into him. "You have no idea what exactly I am. I am far more than just your fears, and I grow tried that you can't figure out exactly what I am. You created me because you couldn't handle the reality the world put you in, and now that you're out of that world, all you do is spend your day wallowing in your own self-pity. You sit on your ass and say you're not strong enough to do anything and I'm growing tried listening to it."

Before Spyro knew what was going on, Dark Spyro had grabbed him by his neck, tossed him to the ground and pressed his weight down on Spyro's chest to keep him down on the floor. "Tell me why I shouldn't just take your body now and kill everyone in the cave right now?"

Spyro grew a little worried that Dark Spyro might hurt his friends or his father or worse. "Because if you do, then I'll just kill myself, then you'll no longer exist either." He said in a panic.

Dark Spyro scoffed. "Do you think your death will make me back down? Unlike you I'm not afraid to die if I have to. I'm not afraid to get the job done, even at the cost of my friends. They are merely road blocks in our way to our own ascension Spyro." Dark Spyro got off his counterpart and paced around.

"We are capable of doing so much Spyro. We can rule cities, destroy nation, slaughter millions, tear this world to pieces, and so much more!" he stopped and stared at Spyro as he picked himself up off the dirt. "The only thing standing in my way is you Spyro."

"If you are as powerful as you say you are, then why haven't you taken control and done all those things you say you can do!" Spyro shot back, finding the fading shreds of courage that he still had inside of him.

Dark Spyro began to laugh at his own expense. "Because Spyro, I am a mere thought, a dream, your imaginary friend, if you will. In truth I can't really do any of those things, but you can." This left Spyro completely confused.

"What are you talking about? I know you can take control, you proved that you can when you killed Blast!" Dark Spyro shook his head.

"No Spyro, that was you, you killed Blast." Dark Spyro began to rub his temples as he grew more and more frustrated with his counterpart. "Maybe someday you'll understand, but for now I grow tired of this conversation, and frankly I want to rest." He turned to leave but Spyro quickly ran in front of him to block his path.

"You're not leaving until you answer my question! Just who are you?"

Dark Spyro rolled his eye. "Do you want the truth? The whole truth?" Spyro nodded, thinking that he was ready. "Well like I said a million times before, I am you. I've been you, I am you, and I will always be you, what more do you want?"

"You keep saying that, but your nothing like me!" Spyro said growing rather irritated himself. "You say your growing tired that I can't figure it out, so why don't you just tell me and save us both a lot of trouble!"

For a moment Dark Spyro looked impressed by what Spyro was saying, but that look in his eyes disapeared a moment later, turning back to the cruel and unforgiving ones that Spyro remembered. "Fine. If you really want to know who I am, well I can't really tell you as I don't know, but the best I can tell you is that I'm Malefor."

Spyro took a step back. "What?" he said bewildered. "How is that even possible?"

Dark Spyro shrugged. "I'm not the real Malefor, moron." he said as he groaned irritably. "You're really going to make me spell it out for you aren't you? Fine then. Maybe this will help you understand just exactly who your mystery voice and I really are." Dark Spyro took a moment before speaking, taking the time to figure out how to phrase this properly without spoiling the full truth. "I am, what you believe Malefor is like."

Spyro looked at him confused. "I still don't get it."

Dark Spyro thought about how to phrase that again. "Tell me, what do you know about Malefor?"

"That he was an evil dragon that tried to kill millions for his own personal gain." Spyro knew this so well because that was what people feared he would do, and he was reminded of this every time he saw the look on people's faces as he walked by when he lived in Warfang. That fear they had in them which would always branch out of them which they used weapons, both verbally and physically, to beat Spyro into submission so he couldn't become the thing they feared.

"Exactly, and so when your mind broke when dear mother tossed you out that window, you made me out of that idea of you becoming like Malefor, just like all those towns people thought you'd turn out to be. Do you get it now?"

Spyro had to take a moment to really think about what his counterpart told him. "Not really. I mean that doesn't really make a lot of sense." Dark Spyro let out an exhausted sigh.

"You truly are, the most worthless dragon in all the realms Spyro." Before Spyro could say another word, his counterpart vanished, taking all the corrupted plant life with him. Spyro looked all around, confused now more than ever.

"Wait! Come back!" he shouted. But not a single word was spoken back to him.

Spyro woke up shortly after, his heart pounding in his chest. He looked around and noticed that he was still in the cave, and was rather glad that he didn't make too much noise when he was asleep. That's when he remembered about the pirate in the cave and he peaked out around the corner to see if he was still there. He wasn't sure if he should be glad to see that the pirate had left as both Hunter and Cynder were gone as well.

Slowly walking out from his hiding spot, Spyro walked up to his father who was still sitting in front of the smoldering ashes left by the fire, leaving Spyro to wonder how long he had been there.

"G-good morning." Spyro said timidly, still finding it hard to believe that he slept in the same cave as one of his childhood tormenters. Terrador just nodded back at him. Spyro sat down in front of the fire pit, and remained silent, rather hoping that his dad would come up with some idea that would help him get Cynder and Hunter back, though after what felt like an hour of silence, Spyro figured that he was out of luck. He looked over to Terrador, who hadn't moved ever since Spyro woke up. Sure enough he was still sitting in the same spot, still gazing into the burnt logs and ash. It was easy for Spyro to assume that his dad was thinking about Nova. He never really realized that his father actually cared for someone, though the only time he ever really saw his parents, they were practically torturing him. The more he thought about it, a question came to his mind.

"Hey dad…" he paused as he was worried about what Terrador might do. "Why did mom make you keep that promise… you know about forgiving me?"

Terrador's gaze didn't shift, making Spyro question if he even heard him in the first place, but after a moment he looked at his son. Spyro expected that his father would attack him, or at the very least look angry, but instead he looked sad which caught Spyro off guard.

"Your mother changed after you left." He said in a low and solemn voice. "She wasn't the only thing that was changing either, everyone in Warfang seemed to change as well. While you were in Warfang, everyone seemed peaceful, calm, and I dare say that they were happy, but when you left people began to panic. When you were at Warfang, people always kept an eye on you, and seeing you in such a decrepit state eased their thoughts and worries that you would someday end up like Malefor. By leaving, people began to speculate that you were going to build an army and attack them. While at the time I sided with the people of Warfang, your mother thought otherwise. She told me once that she blamed herself for the way the people around us were acting, that it was our fault that you ran off." Terrador paused to sigh and in doing so, Spyro realized that his father looked tired. Not due to a lack of sleep sort of tired, but the kind of tired that you would get when you're tired of doing or thinking of the same thing over and over again.

"I can still remember the day she came home crying." He smiled a little though his eyes still held all the sadness in the world as he played the scene over in his head. "I comforted her the best I could and I asked her why she was crying. She told me that she witnessed the city go to hell, honest people were stealing, riots where forming, and building where being destroyed in all the panic that people where causing. She told me how scared she was, and that everything going on was our faults, for being shitty parents… I didn't really think about what she said until…." He stopped, though Spyro didn't need him to continue to know what he was going to say.

Spyro walked over to his dad and sat down beside him, hoping that in doing so, it would help ease the pain. He didn't say anything though, to be honest he didn't know if he should, but he knew that just being there was helping as Terrador pulled him closer with the use of his large wing.

"Spyro," his dad continued. "On the behalf of your mother, we're sorry for everything that we did to you." This brought a smile to Spyro's face. He didn't know how long he had wished to hear those words, but it felt like an eternity.

Spyro looked up to his father, who was looking back down at him. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that dad." He played his father's words over again in his head and smiled some more, but then he remembered the issue at hand. He pulled away from Terrador who looked confused as to why Spyro moved away.

"Hey dad, I know that we just got back together and we just started repairing the damages done, but…" Spyro stopped, a little worried that his father might get mad at him for what he was about to ask. "But will you help me save my friends?"

 **Hey guys, sorry this one took longer to post, I had a really bad cold and I couldn't work on the story at all during that time, not to mention that work wasn't making it any easier. Still I hope you all enjoyed this one and I'll try to get the next one out a little sooner.**


	11. Chapter 11

"No," Terrador said, not giving a moment to even consider Spyro's question.

"What?" Spyro was taken back but this, not really expecting to be rejected. "Why not?"

"These friends of yours, they are the one that was captured by that pirate correct?"

"Well, yeah they are. Why does that matter?"

"Then they get what they deserve." Terrador began to scowl. "They wounded your mother when they helped you escape Warfang, and for that I leave them to their fates.

"But dad," Spryo said, growing desperate. "I thought you and mom turned a new leaf, can't you forgive them? Nova did."

The look in Terrador's eyes turned bitter, and he glared down at his son, giving Spyro the idea that he really fucked up. "And how would you know what your mother thought? You were gone, and when you left you caused her demise." Terrador stood up and raised a paw to strike the purple drake. Spyro flinched and tried to shield whatever was coming at him, but after a moment Spyro realized that Terrador hadn't done anything to him. "I'm sorry Spyro." Terrador still stood over him, though he no longer looked angry. Spyro was rather shocked to see that his father looked rather disappointed in himself for even considering hitting his son. "I'm still sticking to what I said. If you want to go free your friends, then go do it yourself." Terrador left without saying another word. He wasn't sure if he caught it, but Spyro could have sworn he saw his father tear up again just before he left.

Spyro thought about going after him, but it was the fear of his father striking him that kept him from doing so. This was followed up by him panicking as he came to realize that he had to save his friends from pirates all on his own. Thoughts started to run though his head on how he could save them, though most sounded too ridicules for it to work.

"Looks like I'm on my own on this one." That thought sent a chill down his spine as he wondered if he was actually capable of saving his friends all by himself. Getting up, he walked over to the entrance of the cave. He was thankful that it rained last night, as used the footprints that his friends, and the pirate left in the mud when they left, which he used to track them. He followed them all the way to the other side of the mountain before walking down the side and into a forest where the tracks mostly disappeared in the brush.

Taking a moment to figure out how to find them, Spyro remembered something that Hunter taught him while they were out hunting. Looking more closely, Spyro found a faint indention in the ground, which he figured was probably made by Cynder's tail as it dragged along the ground. Sure enough it led him to another set of foot prints, similar to the one's that he saw up in the mountain. Feeling rather proud of himself for a change, Spyro followed them until he reached an open area, and the footprints disappeared once again. This time, there wasn't any indication that they went any further, leaving Spyro very confused.

"Where could they have gone?" he said to himself, while he looked around the area. Figuring that maybe he was following the wrong prints, he walked back the way he came and tried again when he got back to base of the mountain. Sure enough, the same footprints from the mountain were the ones that suddenly stopped.

As Spyro pondered where his friends could have gone, a small golden figure came hurtling out of the forest screaming bloody murder as it flew towards the purple dragon. The dragonfly drew upon his mighty stick that defeated Cynder, and thrusted it forwards with all of his might, aimed straight for Spyro's neck. The stick bounced off and broke in half.

Spyro stumbled backwards, flinching from the sudden pain in his throat. The stick didn't even break through his scales, but it still wasn't a very pleasant feeling to be jabbed in the jugular. "What the hell was that for?" Spyro asked, clearly not too happy with what just happened.

"Uhhhh, well you see my mighty weapon was weakened from my last encounter against the vile black scaled heathen, whom I defeated single handedly." Sparx tired looking heroic, posing in front of Spyro as if to intimidate him when in truth his was panicking now that his only plan has failed.

"Black scaled heathen?" Spyro was very confused by what was going on, however that name did bring one person to his mind. "Oh do you mean Cynder?" he asked hoping that this bug knew where his friends where.

"Ah, so you know her name. Your partner in crime then I take it. Ha! I should have known from the moment she made that deal to help me capture you. She had that evil look on her face."

"Capture me?" Spyro was hurt to hear this, though a part of him questioned if he should even believe what the dragonfly was saying.

Sparx held up both of his fists, as he got ready to fight. "Enough chit-chat, now you die!" Flying at the purple dragon at a much faster speed then Spyro would have thought someone of his size could even pull off, Sparx grabbed him by his horn and pulled with all of his might, trying to flip Spyro onto his back.

He didn't budge. In fact, Spyro found this more annoying than when he was stabbed in the throat. "Would you knock it off already?" he shook his head, throwing Sparx off of him. "Look I don't want to fight. You said you knew Cynder. Do you know where she went?"

Sparx brushed the dirt off him and got up off the ground, meeting Spyro at his eye level.

"let's say I did," Sparx sneered. "Why should I tell you?" Spyro acted quickly, putting little thought into what he was doing. Opening his mouth, he bared his fangs and snapped them shut mere centimeters from Sparx, scaring the daylights out of him. Spyro was just glad that the dragonfly didn't run away. "Ok, I see your point, and after putting some thought into it, I think I can help." Sparx said nervously, clearly not liking the idea of being eaten.

"Thank you." Spyro took a step back to give the bug some room again. He smirked, glad that his plan worked, but on the inside he was panicking. 'Oh my god, I nearly ate another living being!'

"Hey, I bet you that he would have tasted delicious." Dark Spyro chimed in. "Ooh, maybe he'd taste even better with a hint of mint, and boiled into a pot of stew. Or maybe we could…"

Spyro tried to tune out his counterpart as he listed off more ways they could cook Sparx. "So tell me, where did Cynder go?"

Sparx still looked terrified and his shaky voice ruined any attempts that he made to try and sound brave. "Um, yeah well if you'd just follow me…" He quickly flew off towards the tree, flying above the treetops. Spyro tried to keep up to him as best as he could, though this was rather tough without a second wing. Even if he did have two wings he didn't think he could actually keep up with Sparx. For someone so small, he did move rather fast.

Hearing the sound of Spyro's claw rip up dirt as he ran, Sparx looked back expecting Spyro to be flying right behind him. Looking down he noticed that he was at least twenty feet ahead of him. Sparx stopped and flew back down to Spyro. "Why are you running?" he asked, completely oblivious to Spyro's handicap.

Spyro looked at him confused, but instead of calling Sparx out for his lack of observation, he just showed him his stump. "I can't really fly you see."

Sparx looked more confused than Spyro did. "How have you made it this long without being caught without flying?" Spyro mere shrugged. "Luck I guess." He would explain that it was through the help of his friends, but he wasn't entirely sure that Sparx would understand that.

"Augh." Sparx groaned. "You just had to make it harder didn't you?" He rubbed him forehead as he thought about how to handle the situation. Throwing his hands up, he said "Ok, how about this. I'll take you to edge of the forest and just point to where she is. Ok?" Hearing this made Spyro smile.

"That would be great, thank you." Sparx scoffed and flew off. When he went on this journey to defeat and capture the purple dragon, he didn't imagine himself helping him out, let alone being thanked by him. "Yeah, yeah, just remember that you owe me later." He said hoping to at least get something out of this.

Spyro felt a growing tension in his gut as he walked alongside the dragonfly. He didn't feel threatened by the dragonfly in any capacity, but he wasn't sure if he could trust him or not. The dragonfly was rather quick to agree to help him, though Spyro wasn't sure if the dragonfly had realized that it was pointless in even trying to attack him. It was mostly the silence that bothered Spyro. Even the forest was quiet, no birds, no wind, everything was just in a standstill.

"So um, what's your name?" Spyro asked to break the silence.

The dragonfly looked back at the purple drake. He didn't look to happy, but Spyro could tell that the silence was bothering him to from the look in his eyes. "The name's Sparx." Sparx turned around and flew backwards while flexing his arms. "The strongest Dragonfly in all creation. The mere thought of you surviving my attacks only proves how much of a threat you all to everyone."

Spyro wasn't sure if he should be hurt or skeptical of what Sparx was saying. He highly doubted that Sparx was the strongest, though at the same time he didn't have any other encounter to compare that to. Still hearing how much Sparx hated him made his heart sink. "Well I'll admit, you're the bravest dragonfly I've met." Spyro said, trying to act like what Sparx said didn't hurt him.

"Thanks I guess." Sparx didn't want to hear that from Spyro either. In fact, Spyro was acting completely the opposite way that he thought he would. From all the stories he had heard about the purple dragon, he was told that Spyro was an evil, maniacal, monster, bent on brining chaos to the realms. Instead he found a pitiful dragon how can't even fly. "at least he nicer than I thought he was." Sparx mumbled. They stayed silent for a little while longer before a question popped into Spyro's mind.

"By the way Sparx, how do you know where Cynder and Hunter went?"

"Well, before that pirate attacked, I was off fighting a huge beast and couldn't save them when he showed up. Then it started to rain and had to seek shelter, which is why I wasn't there when he captured them. Now I'm not one to break my promises to help someone so when it stopped raining I went looking for him. Not long after I started I saw him walking towards a large ship hovering above the forest and I went after them. And before you say anything, no I didn't get lost in the forest. The forest is probably just enchanted or something and it turned me around." Sparx was clearly lying, but Spyro found it a little funny how hard the dragonfly tried to act tough. "Anyways, as I was looking about for where they had gone, I saw you in the distance, and the rest you already know."

"I see." Spyro couldn't stop smiling at all the lies Sparx was making just to seem stronger than he really is. "So you think my friends are on that boat?" Sparx nodded.

"Most likely. It was a pirate ship after all, so naturally they would probably board it."

The rest of the walk was in silence again, and it wasn't until they got out of the forest when Sparx spoke. Raising a finger, he pointed to a dark brown boat with two red balloons holding it in the air. Spyro gulped when he saw the several dozen cannons attached to the sides. He pictured himself on the receiving end of one of those cannons and what he might look like after taking a hit from a cannon ball.

"So, how do we get on board that thing?" Spyro said nervously.

"Oh, so now I'm helping you save them? I thought I was just going to show you where they were." Sparx didn't seem too happy that he had to help his enemy even more. "Fine, well, they aren't moving strangely so I can only guess that they are resupplying it or something. If so, then there is probably a ladder or some way for the crewmen to get back up. Let's just get over there and just wing it." Before Spyro could stop him, Sparx took off towards the boat.

"Both that gnat and your girlfriend are going to get you killed." Dark Spyro's voice echoed in his head.

"Cynder has risked her neck for me several times. It's times I finally return the favor." Spyro said, before running after Sparx.

Hey guys, sorry again for taking so long to post this chapter. Work was a pain, and it didn't help that I didn't even bother work or think about this story when I went on vacation. I was also planning on making it longer and finally introduce a new character than I think all of you would enjoy seeing, but I wanted this to get posted soon, so I'll have him show up in the next chapter. Again, I'll try to post as soon as I can, but life is making that a little difficult. Thanks again for reading!


	12. Chapter 12

Spyro and Sparx reached the area that the pirate ship was stopped at, between the mountains and the forest close by. When they got there, Spyro noticed the large steel anchor that held the boat to the ground, the tree that it was connected to nearing being ripped out of the ground. Dangling below the ship was a rickety looking rope ladder which posed quite the problem for Spyro. "So how do we get up there?" Spyro looked over to Sparx, hoping that he had noticed some other way up.

Sparx looked back at him. "This lack of a wing is becoming really annoying just so you know." Sparx groaned and looked around, but didn't see anything that could help them either. "Looks like you're just stuck with climbing." Without another word Sparx zipped on past him, flying up to the hatch that the ladder lead to.

"Have fun." Dark Spyro chimed in.

Spyro tried his best to stay calm. "You know you don't have to be an asshole right now?" he said as he walked up to the ladder. "How am I supposed to climb this thing anyways?"

"Why are you asking me? Figure it out yourself."

"Well… I guess I could try biting it?" Spyro stood up onto his hunches and put them onto the ladder. Doing the best he could to hold onto it, he cursed his lack of thumbs, and tried to start climbing. He clamped his jaws into the wood slab that his paws where resting on, and moved both hands up a notch. He put his feet onto the bottom plank, causing the ladder swung backwards under his weight when he took his legs off the ground. Knowing he was about to fall, Spyro tried to dig his claws into the wood, but he still fell off. After spitting any wood shavings out of his mouth that he tore off, he tired his plan again, this time he tried biting the rope.

It was awkward to say the least, twisting his neck around like that as he slowly moved his paws up the ladder. When his feet where off the ground, the ladder swung back again, though he managed to stay on this time. "Ok, so far so good… Now I just need to reach the top. How hard could that be?" He thought, doing his best not to think about how high up he really had to go. Spyro wasn't sure how long it took him to climb up to the hatch, if he had to guess maybe an hour. How long it took to reach the top didn't really cross his mind when he got up there as he was to confused by the site of Sparx hovering over two pirates that where passed out.

"Took you long enough," Sparx scoffed when he noticed his purple partner. "You just missed me fighting off some of the strongest men on this ship. You're welcome by the way." He flew off, flying to the other side of the room and up some stairs. Spyro stared blankly at the two pirates in shock and awe, trying to figure out how someone like Sparx could take two large pirates out without breaking a sweat.

"Maybe he's stronger than he looks." Dark Spyro spoke up, just as baffled as Spyro. "You should probably keep an eye out for him next time." Spyro could hear his counterpart snickering in the back of his head, laughing at him for worrying that Sparx might be able to beat him.

Now that Spyro had gotten off the ladder, he figured that the hardest part was over. That is until he started to walk up the stair case that led from the cargo hold to below the deck. Only half way up the stairs, he saw a massive looking ape walk past the stair case, carrying two wooden crates, one in each arm. He had no idea of knowing what was in those crates, but the loud thud that echoed through the ship when the ape dropped them gave Spyro a pretty good idea why he shouldn't be spotted.

Still not moving from his spot on the stair case, he looked ahead of him, hoping that he'd be able to spot Sparx. "How hard is it to find a glowing bug?" Dark Spyro questioned, seemingly looking around as well. It was hard to see, but Spyro did find Sparx, hovering beside one of the support beams, his glowing body severely dimed.

Having no way of actually communicating with the dragonfly from so far away, Spyro tried to motion him over. Sparx noticed this and just waved at him. Rather annoyed by this, Spyro tried something else. Moving his body about in several different motions, he tried to silently tell Sparx to tell him when the coast is clear. Naturally Sparx was greatly confused.

"Is that some sort of dance you dragons like to do?" Sparx asked, making Spyro worried that someone might have heard him. Noticing this panicked look that he was making, Sparx continued to say "Oh calm down, there is no one around."

"What?" Spyro ran up the rest of the steps and poked his head up just above the floor to scan the room. Sure enough, the room was empty outside of the rows of cannons, crates filled with cannon balls, and other devices that Spyro couldn't even imagine what their use might be. "Why didn't you tell be sooner?" he asked as he walked up the final few steps. Sparx floated down to his eye level.

"I thought you would have known, don't you dragons have this keen sense of your surroundings?"

"Not if I can't see anything ahead of me." Spyro replied, the sudden urge to smack Sparx popping up in his head, which was most likely thanks to his counterpart.

"Ah, you're worrying to much" Sparx shrugged as they both walked around below the deck. "So… what are we doing here again?"

Spyro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "We are here to save Cynder and Hunter. We just need to find them and get out."

"So are you guy's friends or something? I'm confused." Sparx said as they looked around for any clue as to where his friends might be. "Cynder told me that she was going to help me capture you, and then we ran into that cheetah dude."

"Of course they are my friends. I wouldn't be trying to save them if they weren't" Spyro sounded even more annoyed than ever at the clueless, loud, dragonfly.

"Then why am I even here? Why should I help you, my sworn enemy?" Sparx stopped walking and stared at the back of the purple dragon's head.

"I don't know." Spyro stopped a few feet ahead of the dragonfly and turned around to face him. "You don't have any reason to be here. Hell I wouldn't blame you if you decided to leave." Spyro wanted to tell Sparx how much of a nescience he has been, and that he would have been better off if he did leave, however, Spyro also knew he wouldn't be here without Sparx's help. "If you want to leave, then by all means go, but before you do, I just want to say thank you for helping me." Spyro began to laugh. He never really imagined that he was more useless than a dragonfly, but here he was thanking one for getting him this far.

"It's pitiful really." Spyro's second counterpart spoke up, going silent just as quickly. He did his best to ignore him.

"I doubt I would have found this ship if it wasn't for your help" Spyro continued to speak through his laughter, sounding a little insane by doing so. Sparx stared back at Spyro, confused and amazed by how pathetic Spyro was making himself out to be. When Spyro stopped laughing the turned back around to search again. "If it means anything to you, you dragonflies are better than a few dragons."

Sparx knew exactly what Spyro meant by that, and all that want and need to capture Spyro to prove to the world that the dragonflies where better than what people make them out to be, just sort of faded from his mind. He pitied Spyro, in more ways than one. Here before him was the evil purple dragon whom he had heard several stories about, ranging from how he was building an army, to how he has already enslaved several races and was forcing them to do his bidding. That dragon made Sparx sick to his stomach that such a person could live with himself by doing those things, which was one of the reasons he went on this presumably suicide mission.

Now, looking at who the horrific purple dragon really was, Sparx felt sorry for him. He wasn't a monster, just a dragon who the world hated. Sparx couldn't even begin to imagine how someone could handle that sort of weight on his shoulders and still smile at the end of the day.

It took Sparx a moment to realize that Spyro was well ahead of him, and he quickly caught up. "Hey um, what I said before back in the forest… look you're not the monster that people make you out to be, and if it even means something coming from a dragonfly… well I'm sorry." Spyro was rather shocked by this, and the frown on his face easily told him that he was being sincere about what he just said.

Spyro managed to smile back at Sparx and gently patted his back with his only wing. "You know, dragonflies should never frown, it makes them seem so weak. After all you are the strongest dragonfly if I recall correctly right? I mean look at what you did down in the cargo hold. I would have been doomed if you weren't with me."

Sparx began to smile as well, and nervously chuckled. "Well, um actually about that. I didn't really beat them up… They spotted me right away and charged at me from both sides. I just dodged out of the way and they hit each other in the head and passed out from that."

This managed to make Spyro laugh as well. "Hey, you did better than I could have at least. I would have been caught with ease."

"I wouldn't sell yourself short. After all you did survive attacks from the strongest dragonfly around!" Sparx flexed his arms, making Spyro laugh some more.

"Alright Mr. Super Bug, let's go find my friends."

Must to Spyro's surprise, it didn't take them that long to find them. Towards the back of the ship was a row of prison cells, one on the left was holding Cynder, while the one to the left hers kept Hunter inside. "Cynder!" Spyro ran up to his friend and the two nuzzled each other through the bars.

"Spyro?! What are you doing here?" though she was happy to see him, she was worried what he had to go through to get here, images of him fighting pirates flashing in her mind. Most of her worry was put to rest after looking him over, finding no bruises or cuts.

"I saw you guys were captured, so I came to rescue you guys." Spyro looked over to Hunter. "They didn't hurt you did they?"

Hunter shook his head. "Other than a few bumps, we are just fine, but you shouldn't be here Spyro. This is all a trap!"

"Oh right you are!" Barked Scratch, just as the pirate captain appeared seemingly out of know where and roughly grabbed Spyro around his throat and picked him up into the air. "We've got big plans for you, now in the cage you go." Skaab dragged Spyro to an empty cell and tossed himself, his head hitting the wall with a loud thud.

"Hey! You leave him alone!" Cynder pressed up against the bars in her cage and began to growl at pirates.

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it lil-missy?" Sniff sneered back at the black dragoness. Cynder defiantly blasted the bird with a torrent of black flames, but Skaab was quicker. Before the bird was roasted, he reached through the bars and clamped her mouth shut, digging his claws into her jaw. Cynder tried to pull her mouth out of his grip, but he only pulled her forwards, slamming her face into the bars, rattling the whole thing, before letting her go. Dazed, Cynder stumbled backwards before collapsing.

"Hey, you have Spyro, now why don't you just let us go?" Hunter angrily started to shake the cell bars hoping by some miracle that it would break open.

"Not after the little stunt your black friend just pulled. Your coming with us." Scratch began, while Sniff and Scaab began to laugh, knowing exactly what the bird was talking about. "We've got a plan for you two. Now just hold on tight while we head to our next destination. Skaab took a pair of keys from his pocket and locked Spyro's door before turning to leave.

Just as he started to walk away, Sniff noticed the petrified Sparx who became motionless and silent the moment he saw the two large birds. "Ohh, lunch!" Sniff leapt off of Skaab's shoulder to catch the dragonfly. Sparx screamed like a little girl and took off in the opposite direction, fleeing for his life. "Come back lunch, I bet you taste delicious!"

Once the pirates where gone, Hunter called over to the two dragons. "Are you to ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Cynder rubbed her forehead. Spyro never replied. "Spyro?" She called his name, getting a little worried. "Are you ok?"

The two heard him scoff. "Yeah I guess that's one word for it." His voice sounded hollow, and it was pretty easy for Cynder to imagine what he was doing in his cell. He was lying on his side, not moving from where Skaab had tossed him and was staring blankly in whatever direction his head landed in. He had often done similar things when they all lived together after he failed to hunt any animals and would just slump onto the floor to mope.

"Come on Spyro, it's not that bad… I mean, we are together again at least." Cynder called to him, hoping to at least get some sort of reaction out of him.

"Don't give me that crap Cynder." Spyro barked back at her. "I heard what you and Hunter said that night." His voice started to change from angry to sad, and both Hunter and Cynder could hear it in his voice that he was beginning to choke up on his tears. "You hate me, both of you do. I annoy you, I'm a burden to you both, and you would be better off without me."

Cynder opened her mouth to say something, but the words never came out. She did say something along those lines, and even if she just frustrated at the time there was nothing she could say to take back what she said. She was thankful that Hunter spoke for her.

"Spyro, Cynder loves you, and I care for you like any other friend would. Yes, what we said was despicable, and we shouldn't have say any of those things behind your back. If we could, we would have taken it all back. We both will always support you, but sometimes we just need time to breath. As much as we both care for you, sometimes you give up to easily, leaving us to pick up the pieces for you. When we can, we will always be by your side, but we can't always help you at every turn. We all have our demons we must conquer, and it's not fair to Cynder or I to deal with these demons for you."

The two waited for a while for Spyro to say something, leaving his looming tension in the air. Hunter was worried that Spyro would take it the wrong way and despise them both even more, while Cynder was scared that he would over react and try to leave them again, probably for good this time.

"I know." Spyro finally spoke up after a minute of silence. "I'm a challenge to handle, and I lean on you guys for support more than I should" his voice started to crack again as more tears formed in his eyes. "It's just that, you two are perfect at what you do. You can hunt, you can use your abilities to their fullest, and you both are able to support yourself if need be… I can't even manage to help you two with any of those things. I can't hunt, I can't fight, I can't cook, I can't fly, and I can't do anything right." Spyro stopped talking to cry. Hunter and Cynder stayed silent themselves to give him as much time as he needed till he was ready to speak again. "I…I…I just don't know how you guys do it… How do you guys manage to be so perfect?"

"Well isn't that just a puzzling question?" Everyone jumped when they heard Scratch's voice and the sudden appearance of Skaab, leaving Cynder to question how they manages to just appear out of thin air without anyone noticing. "I'm afraid though that we will never know the answer to that one. We have reached our destination, and its time to collect."

Skaab picked up the keys from his pocket and unlocked Spyro's cage and grabbed him again. Spyro yelped and tried to fight back this time, breathing small puffs of smoke and ember while clawing whatever he could and whipping his tail around to hit whatever he can all the while both Hunter and Cynder were yelling profanity at the pirates, telling him to let him go.

They were all put to silence by a single loud boom. It was Sniff, flying beside a cannon with smoke steaming out from its openings. "You guys are so loud. We'd ought to just load each and every one of you into a cannon and blast you off into oblivion." The bird shouted at them all as he flew back to Skaab. The bird looked down at the now quivering drake in Skaabs hand and then up to his fellow crew mates. "Well what are we waiting for?" Skaab nodded his head, looking even more excited than ever as his dried tongue flopped about sticking of his mouth.

The four of them left the holding area and began to descend the rope ladder, Spyro firmly grasped under Skaabs arm. "So did you ever catch that bug?" Scratch asked his fellow bird in crime who shook his head.

"No, damn bastard escaped before I could get him." Sniff let out a tired sigh. "Man I am so hungry to."

"Oh hush up about your stomach will you?" Scratch rolled his eyes, clearly indicating that this wasn't the first time they had this sort of conversation. "After we get paid you can go blow it on all the food your fat mouth can take." Skaab laughed at this, only for Sniff to peck at his head.

"You shut up to you big oaf!"

Spyro figured he'd speak up so he wouldn't have to listen to three of them bicker any longer. "So you are taking me to Warfang? Then what, you'll watch my execution?"

"What are you blind or just really stupid?" Scratch stared down at the purple drake, confused as to what he was talking about.

"Oh, maybe he's both!" Sniff began to laugh at his own expense. Spyro just looked up at each of them just as confused.

"But I thought you were taking me to Warfang, and claim the bounty so I could be publicly executed or something… isn't that what they plan to do to me?"

Scratch merely shrugged. "How should we know. In case you haven't notice, we aren't remotely close to Warfang." Taking a moment to actually look around, Spyro couldn't see the dragon city at all. Instead, below him, he saw what looked to be a giant stone structure, build in the middle of an even larger meadow. The place reminded Spyro of a caste, only it didn't have any towers at each of the corners and was covered by a stone roof on top. He thought it was odd to see several tiny bright lights move about the roof.

"What are we doing here?" Spyro asked even more confused than ever.

"Originally we were just going to give you over to those blood thirsty monsters in Warfang, but then a good customer of ours offered us an even bigger prize for you!" Sniff explained seeming over joyed by the simple though of getting money.

They soon reached the ground and approached the building. Spyro began to shack with fear and he heard Skaab begin to chuckle, probably at him he assumed. When they got closer, Spyro noticed that there were some guards patrolling along the roof. One of them was looking down at them and waited for them to get closer before calling out.

"Hey you! What do you want!" Spyro couldn't tell what kind of animal he was, as his whole body from head to toe was covered in silver armor knights armor that gleamed in the light. Obviously they were the moving lights that Spyro saw earlier.

"Are you blind under that tin bucket of yours?" Scratch yelled back. "It's us numb nuts, go fetch your master already!" Realizing who it was, the guard quickly ran off. Only moments later the large ornate wooden door swung open, and out came a grizzly bear wearing a neatly made suit and a monocle. "Oh how delighted I am to see you guys again, and OH my goodness is it really him?!" The bear came sprinting towards them and stop centimeters from Skaab, kneeling down to take a closer look at Spyro. "It is you! How I've waited for this day!" Spyro looked confuse at the bear who did a little joyful dance. "But wait!" the bear stopped and looked at Spyro once again. "What happened to his wing!" The bear suddenly when from over joyed to severely crossed and his eyes turned to daggers as he stared at the pirates. "I thought I told you that I wanted him in pristine condition!"

"Hey don't look at us, we found him like this?" Sniff nervously explained to the bear as Skaab dropped Spyro and took a few steps back, for once actually looking worried.

The bear turned around and walked back, shouting to the heavens as he pulled fur off the top of his head. "FINE!" he shouted as he turned around to face everyone again. "You guys have good to me so far and have brought me exactly what I've wanted before, but even this is unacceptable. If this ever happens again, I'll mount each and every one of your heads above my fireplace, and stuff your bodies so that I can use them as stepping stools to get into my bed!"

Scratch, Sniff, and Skaab each hastily nodded their head, their bodies as stiff as board. "Good." The bear said, now seeming calm again. "Now with that out of the way." He snapped his fingers and out came a dozen knights, each carrying a chest with them. They deposited the chests in front of the pirates who didn't waste a heartbeat and opened on of them up to reveal that the chest was filled to the brim with gold, gems, and other shiny objects.

"OOOOHHHH! This was always my favorite part!" Sniff chirped happily just as Skaab closed the chest. He grabbed one of them and hauled it up the ladder just as both bird waved goodbye. "Have fun at your new home!" they both called out to Spyro.

With that matter done the bear turned to Spyro, who had remained in the same spot, scared out his mind as thoughts of what the bear was going to do to him danced in his head. "Oh don't look so scared, I'm not going to hurt you." The bear gave Spyro a large and rather friendly grin. Easing up a little, Spyro asked what was plaguing his mind, the moment he realized that he wasn't being taken to Warfang. "Who are you, and what am I doing here?"

The bear placed a paw on Spyro's back and gently pushed him towards the door, just as the knights surrounded them giving Spyro no way of escaping. "You may call me Mr. Money Bags, and you see I am a collector of exotic things! And in case you couldn't guess, well, your now part of my collection."

 **Man I haven't written this much for a chapter in a long time. I have to say that I didn't expect this chapter to be so long, but I doubt any of you will complain about that. Anyways, I hope you all like the additions of Money Bags to the story. This annoying bear doesn't show up in enough Spyro stories so I figured it would be fun to throw him in. Now obviously I did change his character a little bit, so I hope you guys don't mind to much. Thanks again to you all for reading this chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

The inside of Moneybag's fortress was an oddity to Spyro. The grand hall that he took him through seemed normal, the light brown bricked walls where all lined up with portraits of other bears, presumably realities of him. The pale brown tiled floor was nothing to desirable in Spyro's eye, but the navy-blue rug that they walked upon intrigued him, what with its dark gray meander pattern that surrounded the near lifelike looking designs of different creatures, some of which Spyro recognized as cheetahs, dragons, and moles. It reminded Spyro of a cage, keeping everyone inside trapped in the weaves of the fabric. The rest of the long hallway was rather empty and had a lot of open space close to the walls. The main hall reminded him of the time he spent in Warfang's prison.

He couldn't help but think back to that moment, when he was back in Warfang, about to be executed, only to be rescued by Cynder. He refused to leave thinking that he'd just end up hurting her but to his own amazement, she decided to stay, accepting her own death just so that she could spend her final moments with him. A small smile formed along his lips as he thought about what happened after that, when she admitted that she had feelings towards him and as he did for her. It might have been a rash thing that they did, falling in love after spending such a short amount of time together, but with the world against them and only having each other and Hunter by their sides, it felt only natural to them.

His smile faded as he thought about the journey they have been on since then, from the moment they left Warfang, to the places they have while they hide from the world, to recent events and how his actions has caused so much trouble for all of them. Maybe if he was so hard on himself, he wouldn't be here with some strange bear and he wouldn't be a part of this collection is, whatever that is, and maybe Cynder and Hunter wouldn't be stuck on a pirate ship being taken to who knows where.

"Hey Cheer up." Moneybag's voice broke Spyro from his thoughts. "You don't have to worry about being captured in here. I have guards planted all over the place, and the walls are the strongest out there. No one will be able to sneak in and kill you in your sleep. So, relax, you're in safe hands now." The bear seemed a little too happy with himself after saying that, making Spyro feel more nervous than before.

"So long as I stay your prisoner, I'm safe then?" Spyro tried not to sound to bitter when he spoke. As nice as it was to not have to sleep with one eye open, the idea of being trapped, and alone, with a stranger didn't sound all that great to him.

Moneybags gave Spyro a hurt look. "My boy, I wouldn't call you a prisoner here. Think of it as an escape from the harsh world outside. Here, you can finally feel free."

"With the restrictions of staying here." Spyro felt this growing anger beginning to boil inside of him.

"Precisely." Moneybags paid no attention to Spyro's little outburst, keeping his joyous attitude that he had had since the purple dragon was handed over to him by the pirates. The bear rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a set of 15 or 20 keys, Spyro only now noticing that they had reached a door. To both his amazement, and worry, Moneybags used each one of the keys to unlock a lock on the single door.

"Worried that someone will break in?" Spyro joked half-heartedly as Moneybags unlocked the final lock.

The bear scoffed. "No, my dear boy, I'm not worried about someone breaking in. I'm worried that you guys will break out." He pushed the door open, letting Spyro's eyes wonder inside. The room was massive, presumably taking up most of the room in the building and was vastly different from the hallway they were just in. Unlike the boring entrance hallway, this room was filled with stuff. Glass cases lined the black walls, each with their own torch hanging above them to illuminate the thing on display. Spyro wasn't quite sure what half the things were. As they walked by, he saw what he could only describe as ornate suits of armor, strange devises whose purposes were a mystery to him, pieces of artwork, weapons of every sort of variety, and a few other displays in larger glass chambers each of which had exotic animals that he had never seen before.

"What is this place?" Spyro asked as he watched an animal that was half cat half bird walk around in its prison.

"Why it's where I keep my collection. Everything that is rare, strange, or unique, is put in here on display for me." Spyro then realized what he meant when he told him that he was now part of his collection. He gulped, feeling more nervous than before.

"So, I'm like your pet or something?"

Moneybags shook his head side to side as he thought about it. "In a way, I suppose you are." He said smiling back down at the purple dragon. "Oh, and don't worry about being lonely, I've got a few others here who would love to meet you." Spyro was confused by this at first, until he realized that they were walking towards the largest display in the room, which was a giant glass dome that reached the ceiling. Moneybags reached into his pocket and pulled out his set of keys.

'That can't be a good sign.' Spyro mumbled under his breath. When they got closer, Spyro managed to see inside. It was mostly an open area but it had a large lake off to the side that could fit a fifth of Warfang inside of, shocking Spyro even more in realization of how big the place was. There was also as makeshift cave in another corner. The rest of the area was empty except for a single bell that hung in the middle of the room. When they got even closer, Spyro noticed the claw marks along the glass.

"Now play nice in there." Moneybags said as he unlocked another twenty or more locks on the large metal door in front of them. The moment he opened the door, he kicked Spyro inside before quickly locking it. Picking himself off the ground, Spyro noticed that he was in a small glass tube with two doors inside, the one he just came in from, and another one in front of him, this one not having any locks on it. That's when he heard Moneybags voice again and noticed that he was standing just on the other side of the glass. "Just go through those doors and you'll be at your new home. I hope you enjoy your stay here. If you need anything just ring the bell." Before Spyro could say another thing, the bear left.

Spyro felt confused, nervous, and worried about everything that was going on. He turned and looked at the red door that separated him from the glass dome. He felt his arm shake as he reached for the handle and pulled it open. Much to his surprise there was another small glass tube which led to another red door. "A little anticlimactic." He walked along through the tube and opened that door, this time leading into the dome.

Inside the dome wasn't all that special, if anything a little dry compared to the rest of the place. Moneybags did mention that Spyro wasn't going to be alone, and he wondered where the others were. "Hey, we have a new guy!" came a feminine voice. Coming from the cave was this odd colored dragon, her body a strange pink color, though something about it was off putting to Spyro. "Hey, my name is Ember, what's yours?" she asked as she approached him. If he had to guess, Ember was around his age, maybe even a couple of years older.

"H-hi." Spyro felt nervous when Ember walked up to him, this being his only real interaction with someone outside of Cynder and Hunter, since he left Warfang. "Um, my name is Spyro…" Now that Ember was closer he could make out of couple of her features better, the first being the realization that the reason her body was an odd pink was because she didn't have any scales, and that it was her flesh that he was looking at. He gave Ember a curious look, but she didn't seem to notice to much. Ember looked back behind her, towards the cave she just came out from. "Are you coming out or not?" she called to someone. Another female's voice called back.

"I'm coming, I'm coming. Can't a girl just get some time to rest and relax?" Spyro could hear someone moving about in the cave, pushing something aside before getting up. He could hear the person walk around, each step she made making a echoing clop, like a sheep's footsteps on hard ground. Out from the cave was a strange creature that Spyro had never seen before. She had brown hairy legs like a goat and a tail that nearly reached the ground. While that half was seemingly normal, her upper half baffled him as she had no fur on her, instead having a cream skin color with a green shirt that only covered her chest and stomach, which made Spyro question why would she even wear that if she wasn't going to wear any pants.

"Girl, you don't do anything else but that, what are you talking about?" Ember shot back at the Faun.

"That's not what you said last night." The faun gave Ember a cheeky grin, before addressing Spyro before Ember could retort. "Names Elora by the way, it's nice to meet you."

"Um, yeah, it's nice to meet both of you as well." Spyro gulped, not used to being around such strange and nice people. "Oh, my name is Spyro."

"We know." Ember rolled her eyes. "No offence to you, but Moneybags hasn't shut up about you the past few weeks. I swear, it's like he's in love with you or something, he just went on and on about wanting the purple dragon in his collection." Ember did her best impersonation of the bear, making Elora giggle.

There was a strange, bellowing sound that came from the water and the surface of the water began to ripple as something started to surface. Much to Spyro's fear and surprise, a giant blueish-green turtle like creature with half a dozen fins and a fish like torso rose from the water. Spyro felt smell in comparison to the large beast, even from a distance it towered over him. It opened its mouth and bellowed something again, making Spyro's ears ring.

"Easy now, he isn't going to hurt you." Elora spoke to the beast who in response looked over to the faun and said something else that Spyro couldn't understand.

"You can talk to it?" Spyro asked amazed. Elora nodded.

"She can, Elora here is a nature spirit and thus can communicate with all living creatures." Ember explained, leaving Spyro puzzled.

"That's… odd… how'd you all wind up here?"

"Why don't we go take a seat, it's a long story." Elora said as she walked back to the cave. The Leviathan's voice boomed as it called out to Elora. "Don't worry big guy, we'll talk loudly."

 **Hey guys, sorry this one took so long to post. I really don't have an excuse for this one, I just didn't feel like writing this chapter for a long time. That being said, I promise to get the next one out in two weeks tops. Sorry again for making you guys wait for so long.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys I know that I said that I'd post the next chapter soon, and I was… that is until something came up and now I'm working on another project. One that doesn't have anything to do with Fanfiction… So I'd like to apologies to all of you guys for not keeping my promise. I also bring bad news. Next week I'll be starting school again, and I'll be trying to maintain a job, and work on both this story and that other project…**

 **So I write this giving all of you a choice. You guys can either just deal with the fact that It might take me a month or two to write one chapter, or I can just end this story, and write a chapter with a detailed summary of what I had planned. Now I don't want any of you to get the wrong Idea. I still want to write this story, and if you guys want me to then I'll finish it, but the you must understand that I've got a lot on my plate right now so it will take a while for me to complete all of it. Which is why I'm going you guys this option, so at the very least you guys can see how this story would have gone and you can just fill in the gaps with your own imagination.**

 **I'll check in a week from today to see what you guys want and if you want me to give a summary, I'll post it that day. If not, well I can't really promise when I'll post the next chapter. I'm sorry to all of you whom this disappoints, but this is the best that I can offer you.**


	15. Chapter 15

Everyone walked back into the makeshift cave built into the side of the enclosure. Inside of it seemed out of place with the surrounding as it reminded him a lot of the home he and Cynder use to live in when they were back in Warfang with Hunter. In the back, there was a fully custom kitchen with a white tiled floor matching the white cabinets, that Spyro assumed where filled with food, plates, and cutlery, a fireplace to cook or roast anything they might want, and lastly there was a wooden table, covered up in claw marks, work of Ember Spyro figured. To the right of the kitchen there was a door that was slightly ajar, letting him see inside the bed room. There were only two beds inside, which made him question where he was going to sleep.

Lastly, there was another room, but the door was closed. Spyro figured he'd find out what was there another time as the girls where taking him to the table and sat down around it with him.

"Hungry?" Ember asked.

"A little yeah." Spyro gave her a thankful smile, not use to such hospitality. Ember got up and walked over to the kitchen and pulled out all sorts of food. Spyro noticed that there was a lot in the cabinets as well. "Where does all that food come from?"

"Moneybags have people put food in from a hole on the other side of the cabinets. And before you suggest anything, no we can't use them as a way out. We've tried that already." Elora grumbled and rubbed her arm, recalling how painful it was to squeeze into such a small space.

"Is there any way out of here?"

"None that we could find." Ember called over from the kitchen. Spyro nodded, wondering how long he would spend in this place. Elora noticed this and punched his shoulder.

"Hey, cheer up, it's not that bad. At least you got company."

"That's true." Spyro said a hint of sorrow in his voice. He shook his head, wanting to think about other things than being trapped in that place. "So how come you two are in here?"

"Well if you haven't already figured it out, Ember over there has no scales, which is why she is in here." Elora explained, pointing over to the pink dragoness.

"How is that even possible?" Spyro looked confused.

Ember shrugged. "No idea really, as long as I remember I was born like this, and then one day, when I was young, Moneybags must have heard about me and took me away from my family in the middle of the night."

Spyro was shocked to hear such a thing, and pitied the pink drake. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that Ember."

"Thanks, but I'm fine. This was ten years ago, I've gotten over it. Mostly that is. Elora's story isn't much better." Ember walked over with a plate of roasted beef for herself and Spyro, and an assortment of greens for Elora. Spyro thanked her for the food and took a bite while Elora told him what happened with her.

"I come from a very rare race called Fauns. A lot of people called us forest spirits, due to our abilities to commune with every living creature. This is also since we mostly live in the forest and are near impossible to track in our home… well Moneybags find the right guy and they captured me. I'm not sure if you can fully understand, but we Faun are a very proud race. People have spent years trying to catch us just to prove that it's possible. For the longest time, I use to think that we were impossible to catch, but well, here I am. To be honest with you, I wouldn't know what to do with myself being trapped in here if it wasn't for Ember, and the big fish outside." The leviathan's whale like voice boomed through the cave, making Spyro's ear's ring. "It was only a joke, I still love you, big guy" Elora called back before addressing Spyro again. "He doesn't really like being called a fish."

"How did they fit something that large in here?"

"From below the foundation." Elora shrugged. "Before he got here, they moved us to a smaller cage, and started to dig up this massive hole in the ground and once that was done they filled it up with water. Next thing we knew the Leviathan emerged from the surface and they moved us back here afterwards. According to him, they had sealed off the way he came in and he has no way of reopening it."

Spyro felt his heart sink. "So, we really are stuck in here forever then."

"Well aren't you a downer." Ember had felt a similar feeling to the one Spyro was feeling when she first got there, and she put a paw on his back to help comfort him. "I know it seems bad, but we'll figure of a way out, don't you worry."

Suddenly, there was a banging on the glass dome, which nearly made Spyro jump out of his skin. It was three swift knocks and then silence before it would pick up knocking again. Spyro looked over to the two girls and saw that they didn't move, nor did they pay any attention to the knocking. Did they not hear it or something? Curiously he walked out of the cave to investigate. It quickly came to Spyro's attention that the two inside were just ignoring the knocking, when he found Moneybags standing behind the glass knocking on it to get someone's attention.

"Oh good, you showed up, I was rather hoping you'd come." Moneybags looked excited to see him, as he could hardly stand still.

"You wanted to see me?" Spyro was confused at first, but after giving it a thought he came to understand that Moneybags wasn't just keeping him here as a trinket.

"I've heard that purple dragons can control all four elements, and I've heard rumors that they can harness a fifth one as well." Spyro had never heard anything about a fifth element, but he was now curious himself to know if he could us it, and what exactly that element was.

"Show me what you can do." Moneybags looked more excited than before after he asked this, but Spyro just gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

In that instant, most of Moneybag's thrill died as he let out a sigh. "I mean show me what you can do with your powers." Spyro grew nervous. He felt like an animal on state, set to perform in front of an audience.

"Well, um, I can try." Spyro took a few steps back and concentrated on what Cynder had taught him. He took a deep breath to help calm his nerves, before breathing a rather pathetic flame from his mouth that only sustained itself for a split second. He unfurled his wings and stood on his back legs to unleash his electricity abilities, forming a barely visible spark. He smashed the ground with his paws when he dropped back down, which created only tiny bumps jutting out from the ground. Lastly Spyro performed his ice talents to the best of his abilities, making several ice shards fly from his mouth that were about the size of Moneybag's finger.

Spyro was left panting afterwards, his body felt like he had just ran a mile. He cursed himself in his head for being so weak. He looked up to Moneybags to see his reaction. Unsurprisingly, Moneybags didn't look to happy.

"That was the best you can do?" he sounded very disappointed, as if someone had just robbed him. "That was all?"

Spyro's grew nervous again. "Sorry, I-I wasn't really um trained very well." Moneybags pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed yet again. "Ok Spyro, let me be very clear about something." He looked back up at the purple dragon and let his hands fall to his side. Spyro could tell that he wasn't happy based on the look he was giving him. "While in here, you do as I say. When I tell you to do something, you do it. When I tell you to go somewhere, you go there. When I want to see a display of magical power that only a purple dragon can perform, I EXSPECT TO SEE SOMETHING AMAZING!" The bear slammed his fist against the glass which made Spyro jump back from the sudden fright. Moneybags took a moment to breath and make himself look proper. "I'm going to give you three days to sort yourself out. If you give me that same sad attempt to amuse me again," he paused to look Spyro square in the eyes. "You'll pay dearly." That was all he said before turning around and leaving.

Confused and dazed after the encounter, Spyro turned around and walked back into the cave and sat down with the girls again. "That was… strange." Spyro commented. Ember huffed in annoyance.

"You got off easy. Don't exspect Moneybags to go so easy on you next time." As she said this, Spyro couldn't help but notice that she looked both angry and sad, yet when she looked up at him she gave him a warm smile. "I'm glad that you're ok though."

Now confused again Spyro had to ask, "What do you mean?" He looked over to Elora. "What does he normally do?" The faun sighed before looking over to Ember.

"He's bound to find out sooner or later. Better to tell him what to expect."

"Expect what?" Spyro tried his best not to shout at the two.

"Even though we are his property, Moneybags has no problems sending his guards in here to beat us, to teach us a lesson." Spyro looked up and down both female's bodies.

"I don't understand, neither one of you have any bruises or wounds." Elora gently placed her hand over her left arm and rubbed away makeup that was hiding a nasty black bruise. Ember did the same, revealing a long thin cut that run down her side.

Elora still looked depressed, while Ember only seemed to get madder. "He warns us that if we don't cover up these wounds, he'll just inflict more till we listen. He doesn't like to see his property damaged." Ember said, venom oozing out of her mouth with each and every word.

"Oh…" Spyro felt like he should say something, that he should do something to make them feel better, but there wasn't anything he could do.

"We could end their misery." His darker half whispered, making Spyro growl back.

"No one asked you."

"Who are you talking to?" Elora's brought Spyro back to reality, realizing that he was talking aloud again.

"Oh, it's nothing, never mind." Spyro nervously walked away from the girls, hoping to keep his dark half a secret from the others for as long as possible. "Hey, um, you know, both of you look really clean, is there some sort of bath around here?"

Both girls looked at Spyro questionably. "Yeah, it's just around the corner." Ember pointed with her tail.

"Thanks." Spyro ran into the bathroom before they could question him any further.

"Smooth" Dark Spyro taunted once inside the separate room.

"Shut up," Spyro hissed. "Why can't you just stay quiet for a change?"

"But what would be the fun in that?" his evil laugh echoing in his head. "Besides, eventually, you'll break and you know what will happen when you do?" Spyro growled at him. "Come on, lets her it."

"You'll get out." Spyro said reluctantly.

"Bingo!" Spyro could tell that his counterpart had the largest grin on his face. "You know, I bet you that I can get you out of here. You just have to let me out, and I'll get you out." This only made him huff.

"I would if I'd believe that Ember, Elora, and the big fish would be safe if I did." Just as he finished that sentence, the leviathan's voice echoed throughout the room and the cave. From behind the door Spyro could hear Elora calling back.

"He didn't mean it big guy." This was followed by the faint sound of Ember giggling. "Spyro, I don't know what you're doing in there, but just know that the big guy out there has really good hearing." Spyro felt his heart freeze.

"Did… he tell you anything?"

"Don't worry Spyro, he hasn't said anything about your secret." Spyro felt a little better, but wasn't sure if she was being truthful or not. He did is best to keep quite as he continued.

"Just stay out of my way and be quite." He whispered.

"I make no promises."

 **Hey guys, I'm really sorry that this one took so long to finish. I'll be honest, I've fallen into this feeling where I feel bored with everything I do, and it's more than just this story. That being said I still plan on finishing this story and I promise to finish it before the year is over. Thanks again guys for reading and I promise to have the next chapter out soon.**


	16. Chapter 16

Spyro walk towards the back of the room, as far away from the door as he could go, hoping that it would prevent anyone hearing him anymore of his conversation.

"Ah, you're not fun Spyro." His dark half snickered. "Why not let them in on our little secret?"

"And what would that be?"

"That you're a blood crazed killer who can't control himself."

Spyro snarled as quietly as possible. "I've never let you out since we left Warfang, and I don't plan on ever letting you out again!"

"That may be true, but let's be honest here Spyro. I'll get out one day, and when I do… well I think we both know what is going to happen."

"No!" Spyro shouted in rage, not caring if anyone heard him or not. "I don't know how, but I'll do everything in my power to keep you from hurting anyone ever again." His counterpart only laughed.

"I'd work on your temper their buddy. Keep that up and you'll see me out and about sooner than you'd like."

Spyro was just about to give up completely with the argument when his third personality spoke up. "Just give up Spyro, and save us all the time and effort of dealing with you," The voice growled, making Spyro worry even more about if he really could keep them inside.

"Spyro?" Elora called with a gentle voice as she walked into the room. "You ok?" Turning back to look at her, Spyro noticed the worried look on her face.

"Yeah…. I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine. What were you shouting at?"

"Nothing. I just…. Really it was nothing."

"Spyro." Elora said more sternly, kind of like how a mother would when she catches her son lying to her. "There's more to being a faun than just being able to talk to any living animal. I can tell when something is wrong with someone."

Spyro looked at her confused and was skeptical if this was true or not. "How are you able to tell?"

Elora took a moment to think about it. "It's hard to explain without going into great detail about it so I'll try to make it as simple as possible… Fauns are…. connected to nature in a sort of way, it's what lets us talk to other animal with ease. On top of that we can… well basically we can see one's soul in a sort of way."

"You can see my soul?" Spyro asked now more confused than before.

"Like I said, I'm trying to talk about this with as little detail as possible, it's actually a very complex sort of thing. Regardless, I can basically see what makes you, well you, and it's clear as day that there are a lot of things that are bothering you Spyro."

Spyro wasn't sure why, but a small smile grew on his face and he let out a short chuckle. "Yeah… I guess you could say that I do… If you knew that I had issues, why didn't you bring this up before?"

"I feel that everyone's issues should be kept a secret till that person him or herself is ready to freely talk about it. I didn't want Ember around nor the big guy out there to hear us and I figured that this was a great time to talk to you."

"But I thought you said that the leviathan had great hearing?" Elora happily laughed for a second at that.

"He does, as far as I can tell, but I also know that I'm the only one who can translate for him so I gave him a scolding for ease dropping on you, and warned him that I'll cut off all communications if I have to." Spyro took a moment to picture that in his head, of this faun standing next to a great sea giant that was at least five times bigger than her, and watching the sea giant fear her. The thought alone made Spyro smile. "Now Spyro," Elora broke Spyro from his thoughts. "If you'd like, I can try to help you with your issues."

Spyro's smile faded and he just shook his head. "I don't think there is anything you can do to help me."

"Well…. You can start by telling me what the problem is." Elora sat down next to him, giving off this motherly vibe from her, something Spyro had never experienced before. To his own surprise he sat down with her and began to talk about his past, about how his parents treated him, and the following events that happened after he was thrown out. He finished his story with what happened with his friends, and how he ran away from them.

The whole time Spyro was staring at the ground as he told his story, talking quickly through his childhood and what it was like growing up, expressing the joy and happiness that Cynder and Hunter had brought him once they meet, and what it was like to lose his wing. Spyro was very timid at first, but he told Elora about what happened to Blast, and how his dark half torments his mind every now and then, along with the second voice that he's been hearing in his head. He paused after mentioning these things, worried that she would think that he was crazy or insane, but instead of criticism or harsh words, Elora encouraged him to continue, making him feel even more, and strangely, comfortable talking about these things with her.

Continuing now, he explained how he was arrested by King Flame's men and that he was going to be executed, but then Cynder broke him out of jail and with Hunter's help they all managed to escape Warfang. Spyro talked about what it was like living life on the run, and what it was like living with people who cared for him. He said he didn't mind to much hiding all his life, he basically grew up doing that whenever he walked around Warfang. He also told Elora about how Cynder and Hunter have been trying to help him hone his skills in Hunter and with his elemental breaths. Thinking back to those times again, he to Elora how she reminded him a lot of Cynder and how they both been so kind and gentle with him, and how they both gave him the courage to talk about these sorts of things. The only real difference was that Spyro had deeper feelings towards the black dragon. Elora chuckled a little upon hearing that, which made him worry that he said something wrong, but she quickly explained that she was happy for him. Love wasn't something that everyone gets to experience, and that she was glad to hear that he got to meet someone who shared his feelings.

Hearing this made Spyro blush a little as well as smile, as he thought back to all the times Cynder had been there for him and how she's supported him more than anyone before. That isn't to say that Hunter didn't do anything to help him in his life. Without Hunter, he probably wouldn't be here right now telling Elora all of this if it wasn't for him and for that he would always be thankful to his cheetah friend.

This smile didn't last long as Spyro began told her about recent events, how he's been failing at every attempt to better himself, about the conversation that Cynder and Hunter had, and how he felt his heart shatter before running away. He told her about how he ran into his father again which made her very worried, but he explained what happened to his father in the time that he was away and what has happened to his family. Elora still seemed skeptical about the whole thing, but Spyro did his best to explain how his father wanted to make amends to what he and his mother did to him growing up, and how Terrador protected him from a pirate that wondered into their cave. This then lead to how he tried to rescue Cynder and Hunter from the pirate alongside Sparx, and how that failed and how he ended up in this place with Elora and the others.

Once he finished telling her his story, Spyro looked back up to his friend to gauge her reaction to the whole thing. Not to his surprise, she was giving him a shocked, worried, and a rather confused look. "Sorry, I know it's a lot." Elora quickly changed her expression and smiled happily at him again hoping that she didn't make him shy away.

"It's ok Spyro, that's… well… it's a lot to take in. I've helped a lot of others before coming here, and I'll be honest when I say your story is the strangest" She paused for a moment to think about how best to help her purple friend. "That being said, I think I can still help you."

"Now do you plan on doing that?"

"Well, from what you told me, you seem confused about how to feel on a lot of things. The two people who've been by your side supporting you suddenly seem to have abandoned you, and one of the people who has caused you so much pain has suddenly appeared back in your life apologizing for what he has done and wants to make up for it. Not to mention you don't even know how to feel about yourself." Elora paused to give Spyro time to think about this and say something about it if he wanted to, but when his eyes glanced down again at the floor she continued.

"I can't tell you Spyro that you should apologies to Cynder or Hunter for those things they said, nor can I tell you that you should forgive your father for treating you like a slave half your life, but there is one thing that I can tell you. Spyro, you may not realize this yet, but you are stronger than you think you are."

"Yeah, sure I am." Spyro said, letting his depression slowly take hold of him again. Elora took note that his scales were starting to darken "Cynder and Hunter use to tell me that all the time."

"And what they said is true." Elora tried to boost his confidence, growing a little worried about her safty. "Tell me, what have you accomplished in life so far?" Spyro didn't take long to start listing off.

"I've succeeded in being fooled by my family, as well as those who I thought were my friends, I've killed someone who didn't deserve to die, and I've let myself think that I could ever find any sort of happiness in life" Tears started to form and roll down his face as he began to cry, his scale growing darker and darker. "I've never been able to complete a single thing since I got out of Warfang, and had to rely on those two LIERS!" he shouted, his body began to shake while his anger and sadness nearly consumed him.

"But your wrong Spyro," Elora quickly said, doing everything in her power not to run away, despite ever instinct inside of her told her to do so. "Those aren't accomplishments, and they aren't what defines you Spyro." Spyro still cried, but she noticed that his scales stopped changing color, though half of his body was now black while the rest of him was a deep dark purple.

"Then what are they, and who am I?" Spyro croaked, his mouth felt dry and it hurt him just to speak. What Elora did next surprised him. She had suddenly wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in close to her. The first thought that came to his mind was when Cynder did something similar with him, after he had killed Blast, and after he tried to scare her away by lighting the grass in the park on fire in front of her, but Cynder didn't give up and walked through the flames to confront him and to hold him. His jaw began to quiver as his tears grew heavier as he hugged her back, his black scales slowly turning back to royal purple.

"You are Spyro the purple dragon. You've endured things that most people would call a nightmare, but you managed to escape them and now you live a happier life. You found friends who care about you and who worry about you. Even if they said unforgiveable things, I know that deep down they care greatly for you. You told me that while in the cage on the pirate ship that they got captured because they went looking for you. They wouldn't have gone looking for you if they didn't love you Spyro. You've even managed the courage to confront your father after all this time and forgive him, even if your encounter with him was by accident, and even if he doesn't truly deserve your forgiveness, he still wants to try and earn it. Spyro, your body may be weak and fragile, and your mind might be in pieces, but you have the biggest heart and soul than any living creature on this planet. You've managed to make good friends who would give up the world if it meant you were safe, and even turn your enemies into people who care about you. Even after all the crap the world has put you through the past couple days, you've still managed to make a friend out of the three of us here, and I know that every one of us care for you even though we just met. Spyro, you are much more than what the world thinks of you. You are one of the bravest dragons I've ever seen, and I know deep down you can be so much more."

The two sat there holding one another as Spyro crumpled like paper in her arms, unintentionally digging his claws into her back, but she never flinched or break away from their hug, till Spyro was ready and his crying stopped. Pulling apart, Spyro wiped his eyes and was breathing heavily, his body feeling like he had ran hundreds of miles. He looked up at Elora who just smiled back at him. "Spyro" she said softly. "I truly think that you are one of the strongest dragons in the world, and once we get out of here, I promise to be beside you to help you become the great dragon that I know you can be one day, and I know Ember with be right there beside you as well, along with Cynder and Hunter, and if we are by a big open like, I know the big fish out there will help you out as well." This drew a quick response from the Leviathan, yelling at Elora for calling him a big fish again, making both herself and Spyro laugh.

"Thank you Elora." Spyro said as he began to hug her once more, not in sadness, but as thanks for believing in him.

Elora had no problems returning the hug. "Hey, what can I say. What are friends for?"


	17. Chapter 17

Elora gave Spyro some time to unwind, sitting beside him if he needed anything from her or if she could help him in any way possible. "Thank you again Elora." Spyro said after a few moments of silence. Elora smile, nodded, and patted his back before standing back up.

"It's part of my job, and frankly I enjoy it. Is there anything else you wanted to get off your chest?" Spyro shook his head. "Wonderful. If you need to talk about something again, just come find me." Elora got up and left the room, leaving Spyro alone again. While he was alone, he thought more about what she said, thinking if Cynder and Hunter really do deserve his forgiveness.

"On one paw, they've always been there for me before and I guess I never really realized how much of a burden I could be on them… On the other though, it still hurts just thinking about what they said." His head began to hurt from thinking so hard on the topic, making him wish someone could just tell him what he should do and not have to deal with this anymore. He shook his head, hoping that would help, but it only made his headache worse. "Maybe some food will help." He spoke aloud to himself after realizing that there wasn't any reason for him to sit there alone anymore. "Got any more to say?" he asked his dark half who mumbled a few things, and nothing more. Feeling relief from this, Spyro rejoined the girls in the dining room.

Before he knew it, the rest of the day had gone by. Being enclosed inside a glass dome inside of a building made it impossible for Spyro to know what time it was or if it was even dark outside, but he didn't seem to mind to much. While he desired nothing more than to leave this place, he was happy just with the fact that he wasn't alone. As per instructed by Elora, Spyro got his own room while the girls shared their own. It was small, but nothing that he wasn't already use to already. At least he had a bed. That was something he gave Moneybags credit for. Even though he treated them live pets, kept them locked up, and used them for his own personal satisfaction, he at least gave them plenty of food, clean water, and comfortable bedding. Does it make up for what he was doing to them? No, Spyro didn't think so, but it helped him ease into the situation that he was in. If he was going to be trapped in there for the rest of his life, he was happy to be somewhat comfortable and with friends.

It didn't take him very long to fall asleep that night, his mind feeling at ease after his talk with Elora. Just like any other night, he found himself in his own dream scape, standing in a white void. He waited, looking around and wondering where his dark counterpart was or when he was going to show up. After some time passed and still he did not appear, making Spyro wonder if he was going to come at all. As relieving as that thought was, it worried him a little that his other self might be plotting something, hence the reason he wasn't showing up. Worried for what might come, Spyro began to walk around to try and find Dark Spyro.

Despite walking around in an empty void, it was rather difficult finding his other half, not to mention nauseating. He considered creating some sort of landscape to ease his stomach, and after some thought an endless meadow grew from the ground. As far as his eyes could see was a cloudless sky hanging above an ocean of purple, yellow, red, and green flowers. Though the view was pretty enough to just sit down and enjoy, Spyro reluctantly continued his search for the dark being that lurked in his mind.

"Hello?" Spyro called out, hoping for his other half to answer back. "Are you still in here?" There was a groan in the distance.

"Yes, I'm still here." Dark Spyro called back. "What do you want?" He sounded annoyed. Walking a bit faster than before, Spyro found his other half sitting by himself among some smoldering flowers, looking away from him.

"You seem in a sour mood." Spyro wouldn't say it out loud, but he was more than happy to see his other half like this.

Dark Spyro rolled his eyes. "Well it's not like I almost tasted freedom, only to be stopped short thanks to that bitch of a friend of yours. Now answer my question, what do you want?" Dark Spyro moved his head slightly to look back at Spyro. "It's not like you to come searching for me."

"I was just curious where you were. You often like to pop up out of now were and torment me." Spyro said with a shrug. Much to his own and his dark counter part's surprise, Spyro sat down beside him. "What are you looking at?"

Dark Spyro couldn't help but snort. "You do know that we aren't friends, right? Do you no remember what I plan on doing once I get out of here?"

"I know all of that…" Spyro said with a nod. After a second he found himself beginning to chuckle a little. "To be honest, I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. Things have been so confusing the past few days. I just wish to return to the way things were."

Hearing this only made his other half laugh with him. "Now that I can agree with. Back then I had much more control, and I could get out much easier. Now you keep me locked in here."

Spyro gave his other half a questionable look. "You do nothing but threaten to kill the people I care about. Why should I let you out?"

"Because I can also kill those whom aim to harm you."

"And you honestly think that justifies you killing my friends?" Dark Spyro shrugged.

"Maybe not to you, but to me?" Dark Spyro got up and faced his other half. "To me, they are getting what they deserve. Your so-called lover hates your guts and that dumb cat agrees. Your father deserves the most pain death imaginable, and every last living being on this putrid planet shouldn't be allowed to live."

"What about Elora, or Ember, or the Leviathan? What have they done?" Spyro asked, trying to keep himself calm. Dark Spyro shrugged.

"I don't know yet, but I rather seem them dead than have them hurt us anymore." Hearing this, peaked Spyro's interest.

"What do you mean by that?" Dark Spyro sighed.

"Like I said before, I am the evil that you created in your mind based upon what others view you as. They see us as freaks, as monsters, as vile creatures that they must smother with their heels and tread upon less it grows up to devour them." The more Dark Spyro talked the angrier his voice sounded. "The people all over this world have done nothing but hurt us Spyro, don't you understand that?"

"Of course I d-"

"Then why do you forgive them?" Dark Spyro cut off his other half. Slowly, Dark Spyro began to pace around Spyro. Feeling the dread grow inside of him, Spyro followed his other half with his eyes. "Why do you just let people walk all over you? Why do you accept that kind of life?"

Spyro let his head slump down. "Because I don't know any other way of living." Spyro jumped, when he felt his dark half put a paw upon his shoulder.

"Then let me take control, let me show you that we can live in a world where we don't get treated like dirt, a world where we don't have to worry about others taking advantage of us, a world where we don't have to fear for our lives, but instead a world where people fear us."

Spyro had to think about this for a moment. So many things have gone wrong in his life, so many things that he just wished never happened, and there were even more things he wished did happen. He wanted a happy life and he thought he had gained one once he, Cynder, and Hunter left Warfang. He wanted to feel safe without having to worry about some search party finding him. He wanted a world where he could feel free for a change. "Your offer… does sound tempting…"

"Then why are you hesitating?" Dark Spyro walked around and stopped right in front of him, reaching out his paw to his other half. "Take my paw, and I'll make all your pain and troubles go away forever."

Spyro looked down at his dark half's paw, then back up at him. Dark Spyro had a genuine smile upon his face, one that made Spyro feel safe and comfortable, but before Spyro could reach out his paw, he remembered what Elora said to him. Slowly he began to back away from his other half. Dark Spyro began to scowl. "I see, so that's how it's going to be then? Well, then I guess I'll just have to force my way out!" Dark Spyro jumped at his other half, swiping at him with his claws. Spyro managed to move out of the way just in time, but before Spyro could recover his evil half hit his chest with a fireball, causing him to wince and stumble backwards.

Dark Spyro snorted at his good half as he tried to regain his balance. "Just give up now Spyro, don't make this too hard on yourself."

As tempting as the offer was, Spyro still shook his head. "I know you want what you think is best for us, but I can't let you hurt my friends. You've done enough damage already." Thinking back to the little bit of combat training that Cynder and Hunter taught him, Spyro got into a stance, readying himself for whatever his dark half could throw at him. Dark Spyro only smirked.

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." Once again, he lunged at his good half, clawing at him, swiping his sharp claws at whatever body part he could hit. Spyro ducked and dodged most of his attacks, backing away from him, looking for an opening. He cringed when some of the attacks landed, but fought back his urge to give up. Dark Spyro's attacks where wild, and often they wouldn't come close to even hitting him. Spyro wasn't sure if his dark half was doing this to intimidate him or if he was just bad at fighting. His thoughts were broken when he felt Dark Spyro's tail blade cut his side.

"AH!" Spyro yelped, jumping backwards. Dark Spyro stopped his attacks and began to pace around Spyro again.

"Just give up already Spyro, you know you can't beat me. I'm everything you lack."

"So, I should just give you my body?"

"That would make things easier." Dark Spyro slowly walked towards him. "Though I must admit, this is a lot more fun." With a quick turn, Dark Spyro struck his good half with his tail, sending the purple dragon to the ground. He groaned as he slowly stood back up, only to be stopped when Dark Spyro stepped on him, putting all of his weight down upon Spyro.

Spyro closed his eyes, knowing that he had lost. Tears started to from in his eyes. He felt pathetic. He had barely put up a fight, and before he knew it, he had lost. He tried to wake up, hoping that it would keep his new friends safe and alive, but his body wouldn't listen to him.

"Don't worry Spyro, I'll make sure their suffering ends quickly." Dark Spyro raised his claws into the air to give the final blow. Spyro closed his eyes, not wanting to see his demise coming, when suddenly the weight atop of him was gone. He heard his dark half grunt as something tackled him to the ground. Opening his eyes Spyro was shocked to see another black figure that looked similar to Spyro, grappling with Dark Spyro, the only factor that differed between Dark Spyro and the stranger was that this new being had glowing red eyes instead of the glowing white one's that Dark Spyro had.

Dark Spyro eventually managed to throw off the stranger and managed to stand back up. "So, you finally decided to show yourself. It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Dark Spyro snarled.

Spyro just looked confused. "Wait, who are you?" Both black versions of Spyro rolled their eyes.

"Come on Spyro, were you really not paying attention?" Dark Spyro called out, growing more annoyed the more he was around his good half. Dark Spyro looked over to the newcomer, expecting him to introduce himself, to which he growled back before explaining.

"I am the second voice in your head Spyro that you've been hearing." The Red Eyed Spyro explain. He pointed over to Dark Spyro. "Much like how he represents how the world sees you, I am a repetition of how you see yourself."

Spyro was beyond confused. "Wait, I don't understand. I was told that you hate me. If that's true, why did you save me?"

"Trust me, I want nothing more than to just kill you myself." Red Eye said with a growl before looking back over to Dark Spyro. "However, I can't let his monster take over your body. He wants to use your body to kill others. I on the other hand, once I have control of you, will merely kill myself, and thus riding you completely."

Hearing this only added onto Spyro confusion. "Wait, I don't get it, why do you want to kill me, or I guess I should say all of us, yourself even?"

"Don't you get it Spyro?" His dark half boasted. "All those things you've said about yourself? Calling yourself stupid, pathetic, a disgrace, all those things manifested themselves into their own person, and now, much like myself, we both want to control your body. The only difference being that I want to use your body to rule this world, while he want to just end your life. With that said, do you really need me to explain further?" Dark Spyro held his glare on Red Eye, making quick glances to Spyro.

"So, it's a battle for my body…" Spyro couldn't help but smirk at the ironic feeling of happiness he was feeling for being wanted, something that was rather rare for him to feel. He shook his head, wanting it to be clear minded and got into another stance. "Fine then, if you both want my body, then you're going to have to defeat me first."

The three of them stared at one another for what felt like hours, before Red eye made the first move, jumping at Dark Spyro and bit into his shoulder. Feeling the stinging pain in his shoulder, Dark Spyro Grabbed onto his red eye'd counterpart and stabbed him in the gut with his tail blade, causing Red eye to let go of him. Before Dark Spyro could recover, Spyro shot and impaled him with several small ice Shards before tackling him to the ground. Feeling slightly dazed from his tackle, Spyro couldn't move out of the way as Red eye furiously clawed his side. Spyro yipped as his side was being shredded, when Dark Spyro swatted away Red eye with a powerful tail attack and before Spyro could stand back up he felt his dark half jump atop of him again and tore a large chunk of his back.

The three of them went back and forth, each gaining a slight advantage over one of them for a fraction of a second before the third one would come in and knock away one of them, leaving the other one easy picking. They had no idea how long their fight really was, and after some time they all were standing still panting heavily, pieces of each other lying upon the ground, blood dripping down their bodies like a dying stream.

"This is getting us nowhere." Spyro spoke aloud to the other two. "Can't we just let this all go?" he pleaded, wanting this all to be over, but they both shook their heads.

"I'm tired of sitting inside of you, waiting for you to let me out." Red eye said, growing impatient. "We are finishing this now!"

"I couldn't agree more." Dark Spyro grinned before making a mad dash at Spyro and knocking him over onto his back and before Spyro could do a thing, he felt claws pierce his chest, and stabbing his heart. This was quickly answered by Red eye tackling Dark Spyro, leaving the original to bleed upon the flowers. As the two fought over his body, Spyro began to laugh again as he felt his body grow weaker and weaker. "I feel so stupid. Here I am fighting over my body against two versions of himself. If he didn't know what stupid meant before, he definitely knew now. All of a sudden it hit him. "Wait, I still control my body, and this is all just a dream, a painful experience, but it was still a dream, where I could do whatever I wanted to."

As Red eye and Dark Spyro continued their fight, a cage suddenly appeared around them and before they knew it, they were both locked up in either own cage. They both tried to bend or destroy the bars, but with no success.

"What is the meaning of this Spyro?" his dark half growled threateningly.

"I'm locking you guys both up." Spyro limped, the holes in his chest still throbbing with pain, even after he fixed the wound.

"Why not just kill us?" Red eye asked, curious himself as to what Spyro had planned.

"I…." Spyro paused for moment, try to figure out why he didn't destroy them. "I don't know, to be honest. However, I worry that if I kill one of you, all the hatred, and anger that you both share inside of you will be transferred to me." Spyro sat down between the two-caged versions of himself. "And to be honest I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of letting people walk all over me, and I'm tired of just giving up." Spyro explained thinking back to all the things Elora had told him earlier. "You both may get out, you both may try to kill me again. But so long as I live, I'll do everything in my power to keep you both locked away in the deepest part of my brain. I won't let either one of you hurt anyone."

Both of his counter parts just laughed. "Well then I guess it's a date then Spyro" His dark half chuckled. "I just hope that you're ready to never sleep soundly again." Before Spyro could even answer him back, he blacked out, waking up in his bed all of a sudden, with Ember shacking him awake.

"Spyro you got to get up, something is happening." Confused, afraid, and still very tired, Spyor followed Ember outside of the fake cave they lived in. To Spyro's shock and awe, the glass done around them had several large cracks in them, from something smashing into them. Spyro looked around trying to figure out who had chipped the glass, and found Elora calling out something to someone that he could not see.

"Look out behind you!" Elora called to someone beyond the glass. Moments later one of the heavily armored guards was throw across glass dome and into several other displays stands and passing out. Up above, upon a cat walk, Moneybags was freaking out.

"What are you doing! Please stop this at once!" He called out to someone below on the ground. Suddenly, a large earth shot flew across Spyo's field of view and into the catwalk that Moneybags was standing upon, destroying it instantly. The bear fell from high above them, screaming as loud as possible, and hit the ground hard, landing on the stone floor head first. Blood began to pool around him as his body went limp.

Elora quickly came running back inside, pushing both Spyro and Ember back into the fake cave, just before another earth shot hit the dome around them, shattering it completely. All around them razor sharp shards of glass came falling down. Spyro could hardly comprehend what was going on when Elora began to pull the two forwards once the glass had stopped falling. "Come on guys, we need to get out of here.

"What about the Leviathan?" Ember asked, as she and Spyro were pulled away from the large pool of water.

"We'll come back for him later, right now we have to get out of here!"

"Hey, what's going on? Who is saving us?" Spyro was confused, his five senses fighting each other as he tried to figure out what was happening. The air smelled of smoke, from a fire coming from the back of the building, guards were screaming at each other as they tried to fight off the mystery man or woman who had saved them, glass was flying everywhere as Powerful earth bolts came whizzing past them.

"Save your questions for later!" Elora yelled as the three of them ran as fast as they could, trying to find an exit. As they ran around Spyro caught a glimpse of another dragon. He was an adult earth dragon with green scales and a dark green underbelly, with a spiked mace for a tail blade. Spyro's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.

"Dad?"

 **Hello guys, sorry this one took so long to post. I'm also sorry if you guys didn't like the reveal of the second voice in Spyro's head that I've been building up to. To be honest I liked the idea when I first came up with it and what I had with the chapter that he first spoke in, but shortly afterwards I began to hate the idea, but it had gotten to the point where I couldn't just forget about him and had to have him show up at some point. If I could, I would have just removed the second voice from the story and would have just left it with just Spyro and his dark counterpart. So again, I do apologies if it didn't turn out how you wanted it to. Regardless of that, I do plan on posting more chapters soon. Like I said before I'm going to finish this story before this year ends. I don't know when I'll be posting the chapters, just expect them to come out soon-ish. Also, sorry if things seemed a little rushed or don't make much sense. It's currently midnight where I am and I'm very tired. I had some time on my hands and I wanted to get this chapter done today. Thanks again guys for reading this story.**


	18. Chapter 18

Spyro watched in awe as his father fought off the guards. One them tried to leap onto his back, only for Terrador to swat him out of the air with a swing of his tail. Spinning around he caught eye of his son alongside two other strangers, most likely others held captive in this place Terrador figured. Another came rushing over to him, sword raised above his head, ready to give a devastating blow. Terrador bashed the oncoming solder with the back of his paw before crushing him under his weight as he ran over to Spyro.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Spyro asked confused as to how his father even knew where he was in the first place.

Terrador pushed past his son and the two strangers, shaking his head. "We can talk later, right now, you guys need to get out of here!" Hearing his father's booming voice again made Spyro quiver to the bone and without hesitation he ran in search for a door.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Ember asked, surprising Spyro who was unaware that he was being followed by Elora and Ember.

"Not really no, but there must be one around here, somewhere right?"

"You're not going anywhere," a hulking man in armor stepped out from behind one of the displays. In both of his heads, he held a great sword, longer than himself and as wide as his arms. The knight swung his sword at an alarming speed, cleaving through wooden display frames and glass with ease, as if they were made of butter. Spyro and his friends ducked under the blade just in time, Elora losing a few hairs from the top of her head. "Hold still!" The man demanded as he quickly recovered from his last attack, and brought his weapon down from over his head down upon the three of them.

Once again, they managed to get out of the way just in time and unknowingly split up as they ran away in fear of the monstrous man.

Spyro ducked behind some stand with a strange looking stone statue inside, and peered back the way he came. The knight that attacked them and just wrenched his sword free from the ground and rested it against his shoulder.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are." the knight laughed in his armor as he walked down the same path Spyro had taken. Panicking, Spyro hid back behind the statue. He quickly scanned the room, hoping to find his dad somewhere around so that he may help him, but he couldn't find him. He could hear him just fine, the earth attacks Terrador generated shook the very foundation around him, and the scream of the guards he threw about, made it easier to guess where he was.

"I just need to get to him." Spyro carefully stood up, only to stop when he heard tapping on the glass beside him. On the other side of the display was the knight who was chasing them. Before Spyro even had the chance to run away, the knight shattered the glass and the statue with his fist and grabbed Spyro's tail, pulling him through the shards of glass and rock, leaving several lacerations along his belly and chest. The large guard had no problem lifting Spyro up by his tail and held him up so that he could look at him face to face. "I've got you know." The knight chuckled before dropping the purple dragon and punting him across the building. In desperation to catch himself Spyro unfurled his wing and tried to grab onto anything, causing him to spin around, before hitting the concrete wall with a crunch, before he slumped to the ground.

Spyro began to cough and wheeze, blood filling his mouth. He tried to stand up, only for a sharp pain to travel through his body and he slumped back down. Looking back behind him, he saw that his back right leg was twisted at a bad angle, clearly broken. "Great," he groaned as he tried to get up again, trying his hardest not to use his broken leg.

"Spyro are you alright?" Ember asked as she came running up to him. She noticed his leg and offered him some help, letting him lean on her for support. "I saw you hit the wall, what happened?"

"That big guy" Spyro paused to gasp for what little breath he could breath. "has a very strong kick. I'd advise staying away for him." He began laugh for a second before coughing violently again.

"Save the jokes till after we get out of here." Ember pushed him forwards, trying to get him to move. "Come on, we need to find an exit quickly before that guy finds you again." The two of them stumbled around, trying to find their friend and an exit. Glancing over, Spyro saw that Ember was looking around frantically, properly looking for their other friend.

"Did you see which way that Elora ran?" Spyro asked, in hopes of calming her down a little. Ember shook her head.

"No, not really. I was more focused on getting away from that monster." Her eyes quickly began to fill with fear. "What if they got her?"

"Hey now, don't talk like that." Spyro snapped back. "She will be ok, I'm sure she is capable of handling hers-"

Spyro was cut off as a massive sword swung and imbedded itself into the concrete flooring only a few inches away from Ember and him. The towering knight from before laughed as he saw the two dragons jump nearly out of their scales from his sudden appearance.

"You're not getting away from me that easily." The knight twisted and pulled his weapon out of the ground and prepared to swing again, just before Spyro shot several tiny shards of ice at him which all bounced off his thick armored chest. The large knight just blinked a few times, wondering if something else was going to happen, before proceeding to laugh at Spyro. "Is that the best you got? And here I thought that purple dragons where meant to be all powerful."

Ember left Spyro's side, running up to the knight and slashed at his feet, her claws also bouncing off his armor, causing him to laugh even more. "Oh, dragons are so funny. You've got a better chance to kill me from laughing to hard than anything else." He said before kicking Ember aside. She hit a nearby display, and slumped to the floor, passing out shortly afterwards.

"EMBER!" Spyro shouted. He attempted to run over to his friend, before being quickly reminded of who was in front of him, as the knight tried to swing his sword at him. Spyro jumped out of the way of the attack but landed on his bad leg, causing his legs to buckle under him again and he collapsed to the ground. The knight laughed as he slowly walked up to him, feeing satisfied that he was going to kill the purple dragon.

Spyro watched the large being walk closer to him and he shut his eyes, not wanting to see his end coming. He began to cry, thinking back to Cynder, Hunter, Elora, and Ember, and even his father for a moment, saying his last goodbyes to them in his head. He heard the Knight grunt as he lifted his sword high up into the air. The next thing Spyro heard was a soft buzzing sound.

"Am I dead?" Spyro thought, not daring to open his eyes, fearing the worst. This was quickly proven wrong as he heard that Knight grunting some more, his armor clicking as he moved about, and a very familiar voice.

"Come on, you can catch me. Or is your bulky body keeping you from touching your face?" Sparx said, taunting the Knight who was grunting in frustration as he tried to reach and grab the bug.

"Sparx?!" Spyro sounded both confused and excited to see his golden friend again. "How'd you get here?"

"Is now, really the best time to be asking that?" Sparx asked as he flew around the Knight's head. "How about you just get out of here, I'll catch up with you later." Spyro nodded and took his chance to limp over to Ember. He nudged her with his snout.

"Come on Ember, wake up!" Ember groaned and moved her body slightly. "We are in danger Ember, please get up!" She slowly opened her eye and hissed as the pain that she felt reached her brain.

"What happened?" She groaned as she struggled to stand back up.

"You were used as a ball for a moment there. Think you can still walk?" Ember stood up slowly, wincing in pain with every moment she made.

"yeah I can still walk. I don't know if I can support you very well."

"That's fine, let's just get out of here already."

"Oh no you don't!" The knight ignored Sparx's taunts, and turned around and tried to grab the two dragons, only for an earth missile knocked his hand aside, denting the armor around the impact. Terrador growled at the knight as he stepped forth, Spyro only now noticing all the cuts and arrows that were sticking out of his father's back.

"If you want my son, then you'll have to go through me first!" Terrador charged at the knight and the two struggled to gain dominance over the other. Sparx flew over to the two younger dragons.

"Follow me, I think I remember were the exit was." He was about to fly off when Ember stopped him.

"Wait, we need to find Elora, have you see a faun somewhere around here?"

Sparx had to think about that one for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Oh, you mean that goat lady? Yeah, I pointed her in the direction me and the green guy came from. She asked where you guys were, and I told her that I'll find you for her. So, she should be out of here already." Ember let out a sigh of relief when she heard this.

"Alright let's get out of here then."

"Wait, what about my dad?" Spyro looked back his fathers as two more guards join in to help the massive knight.

"He'll be fine Spyro," Ember assured him. "He seems like he knows what he is doing." Spyro wasn't too sure about this, but figured that there was no point in arguing. There was nothing they could do to stop the knight, let alone any of the guards and agreed that it would be best for them to just leave. Still, he was still very worried for his father.

Sparx flew above them, playing as look out for any guards that may be around as well as helping them find the exit. Thankfully the commotion and destruction that Terrador was causing was preoccupying most of the guards, thus letting Spyro, Ember, and Sparx escape with little resistance. Both Spyro and Ember shielded their eyes from the bright sun light as it hit their faces for the first time in a while. "Follow me, your friend should be over here." Sparx said, guiding them to some of the trees that surrounded the building. They saw Elora pacing back and forth under the trees, clearly worried about Spyro and Ember. Seeing Elora, Ember broke into a sprint and tackled the faun to the guard as she hugged her tightly as she began to cry.

"We got out!" Ember rejoiced.

Elora chuckled and ran her hand from Ember head down her neck. "Yeah, we finally did." She said as tears formed in her eyes as well. Spyro watched from a distance alongside, feeling happy for the two for finally getting what they wanted, but a thought crossed his mind. Would he get what he wanted someday? To live in a place where he wasn't hated by everyone. Then it accrued to him, that he already lived in such a place. Alongside Cynder and Hunter, and ever since he ran away from them, he'd gain more friends, and even started to repair his relationship with his father, as well as start to learn to forgive himself. This mere thought brought tears to Spyro's face as well. Seeing everyone crying, made Sparx smile himself, happy to have done something to help someone bigger than him and he flew over to the girls to join in on their fun and playing. Spyro was also about to join the others, when he stopped to look back at the building that Moneybags had kept him in, and his smile left him as he began to worry about his father.

"Maybe I should go back." Spyro said aloud. Ember heard this and stopped her fun and walked over to him.

"Why would you go back? Are you worried about that dragon who saved us?" Spyro nodded.

"I am actually. That was my father." Ember nodded and sat down beside him and pulled him closer to her with her wing, something Elora would do for her whenever she needed to be comforted.

"I'm sure your dad will be fine. He seemed to know what he was doing, but I get why you're worried… But you're in no condition to even think about going back in there, none of us are."

"Ember is right." Elora add in as she walked over and sat on the other side of Spyro. "What we need to do is fine some red gems for the two of you, and then we can discuss what we do next." Spyro didn't like this plan, but he knew that this was the best thing to do.

"Yeah I suppose you're right." His eyes flashed with joy for a moment as a new plan came to his mind. "Sparx!" he shouted at the golden bug.

"You don't need to shout, I'm right here." Sparx rubbed and shook his head, trying to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "What do you want?"

"Could you fly back in there and help my dad get out?"

"You want me to go back in there?" Sparx sounded insulted that he would even ask that. He folded his arms and looked away from him. "I nearly got killed the first time."

"Please Sparx," Spyro begged. "You're the only one who can help him." Sparx sighed and let his arms fall to his side.

"Yeah, I guess I am…" his mood quickly changed, a smile growing on his face. "Yeah, I'm the only one who can! Ha, HA! That's right, I the all-powerful and brilliant Sparx, am the only one who can do it!" Without another word, Sparx flew back the way they came.

"Think he's going to be ok?" Ember tried to hold in her laughter before Elora poked her side.

"It's not nice to laugh at him Ember, he clearly needed the confidence boost."

"Oh, fine, I'll be nice." Ember rolled her eyes, but still held her smile. This time Spyro laughed at the girl's antics.

"I trust in him, and I believe that he'll make it out alive with my dad." Spyro couldn't help but laugh some more. "Despite his… ego, he's the bravest dragonfly I've ever met."

"Isn't he the only dragonfly you've met?" Elora asked, thinking back to his life story that he told her.

"Well, ok maybe, but based upon what everyone says about dragonflies, I feel that he deserves as much as he can get."

Ember tilted her head. "What do people say about dragonflies?" she asked confused, "Are they all mean or something?" Spyro shook his head, though he couldn't blame her for not knowing, seeing that she'd been stuck in that prison for most of her life.

"I'll explain while we look for some gems Ember." Elora said as she stood up, followed by the two dragons. The two girls left, but Spyro stayed behind for just a moment to look back at the building.

"Good luck Sparx."

Hours went by, and Sparx still hasn't return. Soon it became dark out, and the three of them moved deeper into the forest surrounding the compound to keep out of site in case any guards came looking for them. The fact that it was taking Sparx so long to come back made Spyro worry even more than before.

"Maybe he's dead." Dark Spyro commented on the situation, his voice startling Spyro.

"Everything ok Spyro?" Elora asked, noticing Spyro jump suddenly. Spyro gulped nervously, a blush forming along his face.

"Uh, yeah I'm fine…" he let out a nervous laughed. Elora looked at him skeptically but shrugged and went back to tending to the fire.

"How are you still talking to me?" Spyro asked his dark half. "I thought I locked you up?"

"Just because we are locked up, doesn't mean we can't still talk and harass you. Isn't that right buddy?" Spyro waited for his third half to speak, but he didn't say anything. "Anyways," Dark Spyro continued, sounding tired and a little annoyed. "You know the drill. I'll get out and take over your body blah, blah, blah. Just watch your back and all the fun stuff."

Hearing this, Spyro couldn't help but question his dark half, but held his question for another time. Right now, he was just happy to see his dark half being miserable. Soon afterwards, nearby bushes began to rustle. The three of them all jumped and prepared themselves for whoever it as, but they quickly relaxed when they saw a familiar golden ball fly through the plants, who was shortly followed by Terrador.

"Dad!" Spyro ran over to his father, noticing the terrible injuries that coated his body from the fight. Terrador mere push Spyro aside and laid down by the fire.

"I'll be fine Spyro. I just need some rest."

"I'll go find you some red gems," Elora offered. Before Terrador could protest, she left to go find some.

Spyro sighed, just happy to see his father alive. He looked over to Sparx. "What took you guys so long?"

"Well, you see after I saved this guy from getting his tail handed to him, he begged me to-" Terrador cut him off with a sharp growl, flicking his tail towards Sparx who moved out of the way just in time. Sparx nervously laughed. "I mean, after he had killed everyone, we went back to where I thought you guys were, but we couldn't find you, so we looked around till night came and we saw a fire in the distance and we figured that it was you."

"Oh, well lucky us. Thanks again Sparx for helping my dad."

"Hay, don't mention it." Sparx said before flying over to the fire and relaxing with the others. Not to long after, Elora came back with the red gems and gave them to Terrador. It wasn't enough to fully heal his wounds, but enough to assure that he would live.

Spyro sat down beside his father, while Elora sat beside Ember. Looking up at his dad, Spyro asked. "So, what do we do know?"

Terrador just let out a long needed deep breath. "Right now, we just rest. We can talk in the morning."


	19. Chapter 19

After they had healed Terrador's wounds, he laid down by the fire, trying to rest and relax. "Hey, um dad?" Spyro asked nervously Terrador barely opened his eyes. Spyro could see how tired he looked, making feel more nervous for bothering him. "Thank you for rescuing us back there." Terrador could tell that Spyro was scare to even talk to him, not that he could blame him for that. He slowly stood up again, trying his best to hide the pain he felt from merely moving. Despite all the red gems he was given, his body still ached from the battle. He looked down at his son and smiled back at him. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something, but he closed his mouth, just nodded, and laid back down, creating this awkward tension between the two.

Elora, noticed this, and spoke up. "Hey, Spyro, we are going to need some food for tomorrow, mind if you help me find something?" Spyro agreed, if not only to get rid of this awkwardness. The two walked through the woods, in search for anything that they could eat. "So, that was your dad?" Elora asked, keeping an eye out for any wildlife. Spyro just nodded his head, feeling anxious to hear what she was thinking. "Are you alright? You know, being around your father again?"

"I think so, I don't believe I have a reason not to be ok. He saved our lives."

"I know, and for that I thank him, however, I don't have a past with him. I'm sorry for prodding Spyro, but I just want to make sure that you're ok being with him again." Spyro took a moment to think about it, and he thought back to when he ran into his father a few days ago. Without having to think to long on it Spyro said,

"Yeah I think I will be." Spyro looked up at Elora, and she could see by the look in his eyes that he was confident in this decision. "When I first found him, I was scared to death, and I wasn't sure what to do, but after talking with him, I truly think that he wants to make amends with me and regrets what he has done." This time Elora nodded.

"If you believe that he has changed, then I shall believe you."

Spyro smiled and looked away from here, trying to spot any wildlife as well. "Thank you Elora." Elora looked down at him, smiled, and patted his back.

About an hour passed when the two returned with a few rabbits and some berries for Elora. There wasn't much meat for the three dragons, but it was enough to keep them going for another day, though they did have to deal with Ember's wines of still being hungry for a short time. Spyro couldn't blame her to much however, seeing as she's been with Moneybags since she was young, and thus was provided all the food should could want. Once they were done eating, they made plans for the morning.

"Hey Elora, now that you and Ember are free, what do you plan on doing now?" Spyro asked, as he finished his food.

"Well," Elora looked over to Ember who met her gaze. "Me and Ember agreed a long time ago that once we were free, I'd help her find her way back home, and help her reconnect with her family."

Spyro looked over to Ember. "Oh, you remember what town you lived in?" Spyro asked, sounding hopeful for his friend.

"Kind of," Ember shrugged. "It's been so long, and I'm sure much has changed. I just hope I'm able to recognize it when I see it." She didn't sound too sure about that.

"Do you remember the town's name?" Terrador asked, surprising everyone, as well as impressing Spyro who grew even more confident that Terrador wasn't the evil dragon he was before.

"Umm… It's hard to say, I think it might have started with a W, but honestly I can't say if I remember it or not."

"There is Warfang," Terrador guested. "Does that ring any bells?" Sadly, Ember shook her head.

"Not really. The only thing that I do remember was that I lived in a small town… I think there might have been a stream near it, but I really just don't remember."

"There are a few places like that." Elora said, trying to sound hopeful in their upcoming journey. "I'm sure though if we ask around if anyone remembers a dragon without any scales, someone is bound to point us in the right direction. From there, it's only a matter of time."

Ember shrugged, not feeling as confident as Elora. "I hope so." Elora patted Ember's back, in hopes that this would help boost her confidence. She then looked over to Terrador.

"And what do you plan on doing Terrador, now that Spyro is free again?" Terrador was shocked that she would even ask that in the first place.

"I was think that we'd just return to my home in the mountain side. From there, I don't know."

"Actually, dad, I was hoping that you could help me rescue my friends for pirates." Spyro look up at his dad. Terrador could see by the look he was giving him, that doing this would mean a lot of him. He grimaced.

"I assume you are talking about that Cheetah, and that black menace that hurt Nova?" Terrador had to take a deep breath to help calm his nerves a little, the mere thought of his mate still brought troubling thoughts to his mind. Spyro nodded back at him.

"I am, and they mean the world to m-"

"Absolutely not." Terrador cut him off. "I'm not going to risk my own life for the likes of those two."

"Dad, please, they are in danger because of what I did, it's my fault that they are there." Spyro pleaded. He stood up and faced his father head on, begging him to help.

"I said no Spyro!" Terrador's raised his paw, aiming to strike Spyro who flinched and backed away from his father. Ember, Sparx, and Elora also jumped by the sudden aggression, as they were all worried about what was going to happen. Terrador, however, noticed what he was doing and lowered his paw and looked at the ground, feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry Spyro." Was all his father could muster to say. The group fell into another awkward silence, though Spyro was thankful that it didn't last long.

"I don't mean to butt in on all of this." Sparx said as he floated down between the two dragons. He turned to Spyro first. "I may not understand why you are so weak Spyro. You are a purple dragon the strongest creature to be born, or at least that is what I've always been told. Judging by how your father's acting, I think I understand why." Sparx turned around and looked up to Terrador. "I've seen this guy fight, and frankly I don't think he could fight his way out of a box." Spyro let his head fall, feeling ashamed by everything that Sparx was saying.

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh Sparx?" Ember looked like she was going to swat Sparx out of the air if he continued to talk. Sparx raised his hands up in defense.

"Hey, I'm just trying to prove something here. Since you two are going off on your own adventure, that only leaves me, Spyro, and this big green thug over here to go on a rescue mission, and between the three of us, who do you think has the best chance of rescuing them?" he looked back up at Terrador. "I don't think you understand. Spyro needs your help, he is incapable of doing so without your help. Based on what I heard these talk about on their walk, as well as recent events, I can only assume that you had a hand in making Spyro the way he is now. so, don't you owe him at least this much?"

"You were following us?" Elora looked both annoyed and impressed that she didn't notice him.

Sparx laughed nervously. "Um, well I wouldn't put it like that. I'd say that I was just out hunting with you guys… Anyways, we are getting off track. So big guy, what will it be? Are you going to help Spyro out or not?"

Terrador looked around at everyone. They were all staring back at him, waiting for his answer. He let out an annoyed sigh before saying "Fine, I suppose I can help you save them."

Spyro seemed to have brightened up and got up to hug his father. Terrador stiffened by Spyro sudden act and gently push him away. Feeling embarrassed himself, Spyro just said "Thanks dad."

"Do you even know where they are being held?" Terrador asked, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. He could hear Ember and Elora chuckle at the males.

"Um…. Well actually, I was hoping you might have known." Spyro admitted, feeling even more embarrassed than before.

"How am I supposed to know, were a bunch of low life keep prisoners?" Terrador sounded even more annoyed than before.

Sparx began to laugh triumphantly. "I think I might know." He said, puffing out his chest, as if to show off to everyone. "While I was heroically fighting off that bird, I over heard one of the crew mates talk about something they called a gladiator ring. They said it was somewhere off deep in the Great Wood Tree Forest, hidden under its leaves."

"You didn't over hear anything else?" Spyro asked hope to get any more information out of Sparx, but he just shrugged.

"What else do you want from me? I was fighting of a demon with feathers at the time." Sparx shuttered as he recalled the pirates attempts to eat him.

"Actually," Elora jumped back into conversation. "I've heard rumor back when I was with my own kind, that there were people taking others as captives and using them for their own entertainment. Somewhere near the small town Blacktooth."

"Blacktooth?" Spyro asked, wondering how a town could get such a strange name.

Terrador sighed again, something he figured he was going to have to get accustomed to. "It's a cutthroat village, ran by thefts and murderers, a perfect place for something like a gladiator ring."

"Wait if you guys knew about this, why didn't the dragon empire do something to stop them?" Elora glared at Terrador as she thought about all the innocents that must have been killed for sport.

"We tried." Terrador shot back. "I never went on one of the missions myself, however, if what I heard was true, each time we found out where they were, they would be gone by the time we got there. For murderous bastards, they are very slippery."

"So how to we find them?" Sparx said, sounding like he was ready to give up. No one knew what to do, and they were all looked back and forth between one another, hoping that someone could come up with something. Spyro was the first to speak.

"I think I might have an idea, but you're not going to like it. What if we intentionally got captured?"

"Are you kidding me?" Terrador said, outraged that he would even suggest that. "And what pray tell would we do afterwards?"

"Actually, only you and me dad would get captured, and it would be up to Sparx to free us. Once we are free, we can free everyone else and then we make our grand escape."

"Hey now, that's a lot of pressuring that you guys are putting on me." Sparx said, growing nervous.

"But Sparx," Spyro insisted. "You are the only one who can get it nearly undetected, and the only one capable of doing it. Please Sparx, I need your help." Sparx just stared back at Spyro. Sparx grunted and threw his hands up in the air.

"Fine, I guess I can do that… just watch out for any birds for me."

"I never agreed upon this plan either." Terrador looked over to Elora. "We don't even know were they are right now, he could be wondering around that forest for days and never find them. Is there anyway that one of your other Fuan's brethren could tell us where they are?"

Elora had to think about it for a moment. "They might, but we'd need to find them first. That part should be easy for me, however it could take days, if not weeks for me to get to them."

"We don't really have that much time." Spyro seemed worried that his friends wouldn't make it that long.

"I can fly you there." Terrador offered. "If it's not to far, we should be able to make it back quickly. We would have to leave as soon as possible though."

Elora looked at Ember. "Do you mind if we hold off on your search for just a little bit?" Ember didn't seem to happy about this but nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. This seems a little more important."

Elora smile and hugged her friend. "Thank you, Ember, for understanding, and you know, while I'm there, I'll ask if anyone knows anything about what town you come from." This seemed to brighten Ember up and she gladly hugged Elora back. Once they finished, Elora stood up. "Alright, if we want to hurry, we better leave right now. Do you guys think that you'll be safe all on your own?" Everyone nodded.

"Don't you worry, goat lady." Sparx boasted, puffing his chest once more. "If anything comes, I'll protect them."

"Hey did I just hear a bird flying by?" Ember asked, looking up at the sky. Sparx screeched and flew behind Spyro, causing everyone but Terrador to laugh at Sparx.

"Hey that's not funny." Sparx said, coming out from his hiding spot when he realized he was pranked.

"Alright, alright. Let's get going now." Elora walked over to Terrador, who helped her up onto his back. In no time, he took off and they were out of site.

 **Hey guys, thanks again for keeping up with this story. I'll be honest when I say that there aren't many chapters left in this story, but as I've promised before, I will finish this book before the end of the year so expect the next chapter very soon. Thanks again for reading!**


	20. Chapter 20

Warfang was a mess. A fourth of the buildings were in ruins, plums of smoke rose up across the streets, and riots were now at a weekly basis. Even at the center of it all inside the castle, things were taking a turn for the worse as even those once loyal to the crown were beginning to discuss replacing King Flame with someone else.

Flame pacing back and forth across his thrown room, the doors locked tight, as so that no commoner could come in. Ever since the riots started to get worse, there had been five attempts at the king's life, and now only a handful of people were allowed into the thrown room, and most communication from the king had to be done by a messenger.

Flame was walking around the room, trying to figure out someway to retain the peace, yet each idea he'd come up with would have a large flaw to it. He'd thought of increasing the amount of security and patrolling solders along the streets, however, he already has nearly every single solder out on the streets already, and it was doing little to no good, and if he spared anymore there would be no way to protect the city from an invading force, and no one to search for Spyro. He thought of trying to recruit more people and increase the number of patrols that way, but when half the town was scared to death and the other half were rioting across the streets demanding that he do something about Spyro, there aren't many people left who would be willing to do so, especially now that they are guaranteed to get hurt daily. He already had to expand the dungeon, as he had nearly a sixth of the city's population locked away for getting into fight, stealing, murdering, and other worse things. At this point all Flame could do was hope and pray that they find Spyro soon.

There was a knock on the back door, breaking Flame out of his thoughts. He looked over and smiled when he saw a familiar face walk inside, his ever so trusty adviser. Before speaking, the mole held up the keep and locked the door behind him, just to be safe. "Sire, I've come with some news."

Flame sighed and continued his pacing. "Unless it has something to do with Spyro, I don't want to hear it."

The mole walked over to Flame and put a hand on his arm. "Flame, I understand that you're in a lot of pressure right now, but please try to relax."

"How can I?" Flame snapped. "The city is falling apart, people are going to war with their neighbors, I'm about to lose my heritage, and to make matters even worse, everyone is more worried about Spyro crafting this master plan to end the world, than their own safety." Flame let out a tired sigh, and needed to sit down. He slumped into his throne, and tried to think of something that would help.

"If you don't mind me asking Flame, what do you plan on doing once you captured Spyro? How does catching him change anything?"

"I want to show him to the people, I want to show them that he isn't this evil creature that they all say that he is. You remember what he looked like when he standing in the throne room right? He looked like he hasn't eaten anything in days, his body looks a fragile as glass, and he is even missing a wing. Does any of that sound like a man who will one day become a tyrant to you?"

"No not really." His adviser scratched the back of his head, finding it sickening that the whole city was turning on its self over the thought of Spyro killing them all. "I have to ask though, what if they riot again when they see him? What if they attack again? Who knows how many people will get hurt."

"That's why I plan on giving some speech before unveiling Spyro to the people. I can only hope though that they'll stay calm once they see him."

"And what if we can't find Spyro?" Flame stayed silent, knowing that he didn't and couldn't think of any other plan. His adviser nodded, understanding the predicament the king was in. "Well… I don't know how much this will help, but one of the searching parties have sent a letter saying that they have found the city Blacktooth, and if you'd like, they believe they have the forces to destroy they city and free anyone trapped there."

Flame sighed and rubbed his head. "If they think that they can save the people there… then fine, tell them to go ahead with whatever plan they have, but as soon as everyone they save is safe, they are to continue their search for Spyro."

The mole bowed his head. "As you wish sire. I'll send a messenger bird to them right away." His advisor walked towards the door he had come in from, and unlocked it, but before he left he turned to Flame with a sad and worried look and said "I'm sorry to say this my king but maybe it's time to find someone else to take th-" Before he could finish his sentence he ran through the door, scared half to death, to dodge a fireball that Flame shot at him. Flame snarled until he heard the key lock the door again and he relaxed. He stayed their motionless for a moment, taking the moment to clear his mind. He then got up and began to pace again.

Terrador and Elora returned to the camp almost a day later, and everyone parted ways. Spyro thanked Elora for all her advice and help, and he wished Ember the best of luck finding her parents. He asked if they would have see them again, and Elora nodded, saying that she'd come find him sometime in the future. Once they left their camp, Spyro had to ride Terrador's back, if they wanted to get to the Great Wood Forest in a timely manner.

"Feeling nervous Sparx?" Spyro asked, looking down at Sparx who was also on Terrador's back.

"Why should I be? This mission is going to be easy. You're going to get captured, and at the last moment I'm going to swoop in and save all of you, and then we'll beat up those pirate creeps." Sparx boasted, despite the clearly nervous look in his face.

"Well at least you're confident in yourself." Spyro chuckled. "I know you can do it, though."

"You really think so?" Sparx asked, looking shocked that Spyro would say that. "I mean I am just a dragonfly after all. There isn't a lot that my kind can do."

Spyro shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. I mean, if it wasn't for you, I would still be imprisoned with Elora and Ember. So, yeah I trust that you can do this." Sparx still looked at Spyro confused and surprised.

"Hu, I have to admit, it feels strange to have someone that isn't five inches tall believe in you. Thanks, Spyro."

Before Spyro could say more, Terrador spoke up. "We are getting close. I'm going to land and me and Spyro are going to walk the rest of the way. Sparx you stay hidden and for ancestor's sakes, please stay quite."

Sparx looked offended by this, but said nothing of it as he hopped off and flew towards the ground with the others. Terrador landed, letting Spyro get off his back while Sparx stayed along the tree tops.

"Think this is going to work?" Spyro asked as he and his father began to walk. Terrador didn't say anything, trying not to discourage his son. They walked for a while, only knowing a general location of this hideout. Based upon what Elora could dig up, they needed to go north, but not much else could be said. Still, it made Spyro feel a little better knowing at least they sort of knew were they needed to go, and even then, they were didn't even need to find Blacktooth, so long as they got captured.

That was when a thought crossed Spyro's mind. "What if they don't catch us?" Spyro asked, looking up to his father, hoping for some sort of answer. Terrador look back at his son. He looked like he wanted to say something, but no words could form in his mouth. Terrador gave his son and sympathetic look before looking back in the direction they were heading, saying nothing once again. Spyro kept his eyes on his dad, hoping that he would say something, but he never did. Now starting to worry a bit, Spyro looked up towards the trees. He saw Sparx dash through the branches. He was about to call out to Sparx, asking him if he saw anyone, but realized that if there was someone around he would be blowing Sparx's cover.

Spyro began to wish that he had come up with a better plan. He shook his head, trying to calm himself, but it didn't help much. He then tried finding some comfort with the last person he'd ever expect to.

"Think we'll see them again?" He called out to his dark counterpart.

"What?" Dark Spyro sounded confused that Spyro was talking to him. "I don't know. Probably not if I'm to be honest." Spyro scoffed, more at himself for thinking that Dark Spyro would have been much help.

"Hey, don't get mad at me." Dark Spyro said. "If it makes you feel any better, they are probably safer far away from you anyways."

"If what my dad says is true, they could be fighting to the death right now." Spyro argued back. "How could that be any better?"

"Well, if they were here, they would already be dead thanks to me."

"You're never getting out again. I told you this already." Spyro snarled and accidently verbally growled, catching Terrador's attention.

"Everything alright?"

Spyro jolted back, not expecting to be suddenly pulled out of his thoughts. "What?" he had to take a moment to realize that he growled in real life, and not in his head. "Oh, sorry about that, I was just thinking to myself." He said bashfully. Terrador looked at him puzzled, but thankfully he left it alone. In the back of Spyro's mind, he could hear his dark half laughing. "Would you just shut up already?" Spyro snarled, keeping it in his head this time.

"And why shouldn't I laugh? Here you are, walking around nearly aimlessly, trying to find a group of thugs and cutthroats, hoping that they will capture you and bring you to your friends. Tell me Spyro, had it ever accrued to you that they might just outright kill you?"

"No," Spyro said honestly. "However, they won't kill me."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because I'm the purple dragon. I have bounty on my head that says that I'm needed alive… So long as that bounty stands, then I should be fine."

"And what about your dad? What protect him?"

Spyro didn't really consider that either, and he stopped in his tracks. He looked over to his father, now worried about his safety. Terrador was looking back at his son, confused as to why he stopped.

"Is everything alright Spyro?"

"Maybe we should leave and think of another plan." Terrador shook his head.

"To late for that." Terrador whispered. "We are already being followed."

"Wh-" Terrador cut him off, hushing him.

Terrador got closer and whispered more into Spyro's ear. "We don't want them to know that they are around. If you want this plan to work, then we must pretend that they aren't here. They need to think that they caught us off guard or else they might think that something is up." He stepped back, and offered Spyro to walk beside him. Spyro tried to hide his nerves and continued to walk with his dad.

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, and still not much had happened. Spyro couldn't hear any one else walking, making him feel worried. What if his dad was wrong and they'd never found the others? This worry soon disappeared when he heard someone screaming for help. Spyro looked up at his father, wondering what they should do. Terrador didn't need to say anything as he began to run towards the voice, with Spyro following close behind. They saw a female mole running for her life from three cheetahs and an ape, each with a sword drawn. The pirates were whooping and hollering at her. They could easily capture her whenever they wanted, but they felt like terrifying her first.

"Leave her alone!" Terrador shouted as he dived between the mole and the pirates, knocking two cheetahs' down with a single swipe of his tail. Spyro stopped a little behind his dad, giving him room as so that he didn't get in his way. The mole ran up beside Spyro and hid behind him.

"Thank you, thank you!" The mole cried, holding Spyro's side.

Spyro smiled and tried to comfort her. "Don't worry, we are going to get you out of here."

The cheetah's got up and groaned. "Who do you think you are?" one of them asked.

"Hush Draksin, maybe if you were paying attention, you wouldn't have been knocked on your ass." The ape snapped. He then looked over to Terrador and took a step forwards. "How about you give us that little tart and we'll let you both leave with your lives." Spyro assumed that the ape was the leader of the group.

"I think I can take on some wannabe thief's." Terrador said confidently. The ape chuckled and shrugged.

"Alright boys, you heard him." Without another word, to cheetah's circled to the right, while the other one went left. The ape jumped at Terrador, holding his sword up high. The ape was met with a pillar of stone jutting out of the ground and hitting his jaw, sending him to the ground. Terrador jumped back to dodge an attack from the cheetah on his left, when the two on his right sliced into his side, causing him to howler in pain before whipping his tail at them. He hit both of them, making them collide into one another. They both fell to the ground. One got up and rubbed his head, while the other one stayed on the ground. Spyro assumed he passed out.

Terrador walked backwards to dodge another attack for the cheetah on his left, just as the ape lunged forwards with his sword. Terrador shot an earth missile at his chest, once again knocking the ape on the ground. He then knocked the cheetah on his left to the ground with a swing of his paw. Before the cheetah could recover, Terrador pressed his weight down on top of him and was raised his claws up to tear the pirates face off.

"Dad, wait!" Spyro shouted, catching Terrador off guard. He looked over to Spyro, and growled. The mole was chuckling as she held a knife to Spyro's throat.

"Not bad big guy, I like your style. You'll be a fine addition to the arena. Now do me a favor and get off him. You don't your poor son to get hurt do you?" Terrador hesitated for a moment, but complied. The cheetah he was standing on coughed and wheezed as air entered his lungs again.

"You couldn't have done that sooner?" He bickered, picking himself up along with the others in his group.

The mole rolled her eyes. "Shut up and bind his wings already."

The cheetah grumbled and walked past Spyro who just noticed the two other apes that were behind him. One of them handed the cheetah some rope, and he walked back over to Terrador and he began to wrap his wings together and his mouth shut. Terrador didn't move, not wanting them to hurt Spyro. "Good, now get moving." The mole ordered once the cheetah was done. The pirates that Terrador was fighting began to walk, and Terrador followed them. Spyro moved behind his dad slowly keeping the same pace as the mole. "Now what kind of fighting was that back there Yezen?" The mole barked at the ape. "What are you, some sort of dancer? Were you trying to intimidate him, or impress him?" The others around him began to snicker and the ape growled.

"Fuck you!" he shouted back at the mole. The rest of the walk as nothing but bickering between everyone in the group, and when they did get to a large tent, Spyro was almost relieved that the group that captured them left. That was until he saw who was in the tent.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our favorite money maker!" Scratch proclaimed as he flew right up into Spyro's face.

"How'd you escape?" Sniff asked, also flying up to Spyro's face. Spyro tried to back up be was stopped when he bumped into a dragon guard who just growled at Spyro.

"Who cares," Scratch laughed as he flew back to Skabb and landed on his shoulder. "It just means more money for us!" Skabb made strange noises, which Spyro just assumed was him laughing.

"What do you want from us?" Spyro asked. He looked over to his father who was struggling in his bindings, before looking back to Sniff.

"Well since you generously came back to us, we are just going to sell you off again to the highest bidder."

"As for this fool," Scratch interrupted. "We'll send him to the arena where he will fight till he dies or until we get bored of him. Skabb waved his hand to the guard behind Spyro, and the next thing Spyro knew, there was a sharp pain to the back of his head before the world went dark.

 **Thanks again guys for reading. I had originally planned to make this chapter super long, adding in the up coming fight, as well as what happens when that scouting group comes by, but I figured that this was a good enough stopping point and I didn't want the chapter to go on for too long. Like I said in the last chapter, I will be finishing this story by the end of the year, so expect the next chapter within the next few days.**


	21. Chapter 21

Spyro groaned as he woke up. He was surprised to find that he was laying upon a pile of hay, which, while not all that comfortable, did provide a little bit of warmth. He tried standing up, but his legs gave out from under him when he tried as he realized how weak his body felt. He opened his eyes and looked around. Not so much to his surprise, he was behind bars. He also noticed that the prison he was in was on a cart. Spyro assumed that this was how they transported their fighters whenever they moved to a new location. He looked around some more, but couldn't really see much. He was under a tent, that much he could tell from the limited sunlight shining down upon the colored fabric. He could also make out a few other cages, most of which contained other people in them, from moles, to apes, and even a few wild animals.

"Feeling alright Spyro?" Terrador asked, making Spyro jump as he only just realized that there were more cages behind him, one of which held his father who was sitting in his cage. He noticed that his father also had something around his neck, something black.

"Oh, well I think so… I feel so weak though."

"That is thanks to that dark gem around your neck."

"The what?" Spyro tilted his head, confused. "What's a dark gem."

"It is like a red and green gem that we use to restore our energy or to heal us, only this steals our energy." Terrador laid down, feeling tired thanks to the dark gem. "They put this on us so that I couldn't fight back until the are ready to make me fight, and to keep you from resisting."

Spyro felt a little nervous after hearing this, as he wondered if Cynder had to wear this sort of thing as well. He only hoped that she and Hunter were ok. He then heard his father scoff.

"Your little bug friend sure is taking his sweet time finding the keys." He said quietly, not sure if there were guards outside the tent.

"How long as I out for?" Spyro asked, as it only now dawned on him that he might have been in there for a while.

"A few hours, I'm not sure exactly how long though. I was rather hoping that we'd be able to get in and out of here quickly. At this rate they might make me fight." Hearing this made Spyro worry even more.

"You are still able to fight right?" Terrador nodded.

"I would be more worried about who I'm fighting." Spyro looked around at the others in the tent with them and none of them seemed to be that strong, but then he realized what his father was getting at.

"If you end up Fighting Cynder or Hunter… you won't hurt them, will you?" Terrador said nothing. "Dad?"

Terrador sighed, "Spyro, you have to understand that if I end up fighting them, I would have no choice but to fight them. Do you honestly think that they will let us go if we decide that we don't want to fight?"

"No, but…" Spyro started to panic, fearing the worse will happen to either his father or his friends. "I'm just worried is all."

"Don't be…" Terrador paused to sigh again. "I'll try not to hurt your friends to badly." He said, showing a lot of restraint. While this didn't make Spyro feel a whole lot better, it helped a little. Moments later a large ape strolled into the tent and grabbed the cage that Terrador was in and began to drag it behind him.

"You fight now." The ape said, making Spyro believe that this ape wasn't the brightest pirate around.

"Please be carful dad." Spyro shouted to his father just as he was pulled out of the tent.

"I wouldn't be worried about him." Said a cheetah as he walked inside and grabbed Spyro's cage. "The boss wants you to watch." The cheetah started to pull Spyro's cage along behind him.

"Why does he want me to watch?" Spyro asked worriedly.

The pirate huffed as he pulled the cage, clearly no were near as strong as the ape from before. "The boss thinks that you might try escaping." He wheezed as he pulled Spyro along. "He wants to remind you what is at stake here."

"What does that mean?" Spyro felt his heart sink as he grew even more worried. The pirate ignored Spyro and dragged him to a large tent. From outside he could hear cheering and laughter. He saw the large ape from before walk over to the cheetah and pushed him aside and picked up the cage Spyro was in easily, taking him inside tent. It was dark inside, but he could hear the sound of pounding feet above him, making Spyro believe that he was under bleachers. The ape took stopped in front a flight of stairs and opened the cage. Before Spyro could even think about escaping, the ape grabbed him and yanked him out. The cheetah from before walked up behind them and tied a rope around Spyro's neck and the ape put him back down.

Spyro felt ashamed by the position they were putting him in, he felt like a pet on a leash, though he supposed that was all that they thought of him as. The ape pulled on the rope, making Spyro fall to the ground face first.

"Come on." The ape grunted before he walked up the stairs. Spyro did his best to keep up with the ape, trying to prevent the ape from dragging him up the stairs. As they ascended, Spyro heard someone start to announce something.

"And the winner goes to Alteris," As soon as he said that name, the crowd began to burst with cheers and boos. Through the noise of the audience, he heard a gate open and close, presumably letting this Alteris character leave the area. "Next up" the announcer continued. "We've got a special fight for all of you. He's new to this place, so I want you all to give a big warm welcome to…" The announcer paused for dramatic effect and just as the ape brought Spyro to the top of the stairs he heard the announcer shout "Terrador!" Spyro's heart skipped a beat when he heard his fathers named being called. The crowd booed, and threw glass bottles, and other trash at Terrador as he walked into a round, crudely made arena, that looked like it was built more to be build and disassembled quickly, than to hold people in.

There were several rows of seats below Spyro for people to watch what Spyro assumed where the fights. Below the audience there was a line of people each with a bow in hand, with quivers on their backs and an arrow in hand, each ready to take measures into their own hands incase the fighters didn't want to cooperate.

The ape tugged on the rope again, though this time Spyro caught himself before he could fall flat on his face. Spyro turned and walked with him a few more steps before he noticed that he was walking towards Skabb and his bird friends.

"Well look who decided to join us." Scratch chuckled when he saw Spyro being dragged along.

"Hush, you" Sniff scolded. "I want to see his reaction."

"Reaction to what?" Spyro asked worriedly. As if on cue, the announcer began to introduce the opponent Terrador would be fighting.

"And his opponent for this evening will be, the mistress of darkness, the terror of the arena, you know her, you've made tons of money from bets on her, iiiiiiittttttssss Cynder!" the gate opened and Cynder walked in. She looked worried and terrified, as she kept her eyes on Terrador, as she was unsure she would be able to beat him. Though she hadn't noticed Spyro yet, he noticed that she was also wearing a black gem around her neck as well.

"Cynder!" Spyro yelled over the crowed, as he tried to run to her, but the rope around his neck kept him from getting far, and only caused him to choke himself. Sniff began to laugh hard, nearly falling off Skabb's shoulder when he saw Spyro do this. Both Terrador and Cynder looked up towards Spyro, both equally shocked to see him there watching them. The announcer spoke before anyone of them could say anything.

"Looks like our purple friend here knows our contestants, how kind of Skabb to arrange this fight between the two." The crowed hollered and whooped, wanting to fight to start soon.

"Please, don't make them do this." Spyro begged Skabb and his birds. Skabb only chuckled.

"And why shouldn't we?" Scratch asked. "You managed to somehow escape from Moneybags, so we need to show you that we aren't messing around. We are going to watch one of your friends die tonight and maybe that will teach you what will happen if you try to escape before we sell you off to the highest bidder."

"Though please do try." Sniff said, still laughing hard. "We'd love to make more of your friends fight to the death. Spyro gulped and looked down at his friends, his heart racing harder than it ever had before, and his body started to shake with fear as he tried to think of something to do.

"Please, you have to help them." Spyro begged his dark half in his head. Dark Spyro only laughed.

"And why should I? You trapped me in this cage, and now you come begging to me asking me to save your friends? Not going to happen Spyro. If you want to save them so badly, go do it yourself." Spyro swore under his breath and tired pulling at the rope again, but the ape had a very firm grip on it. All Spyro could do was watch as his father and his best friend circle one another as the fight started.

Cynder did her best to hide her fear, though this was extremely difficult to do when facing against someone as massive as Terrador in size comparison. "I'm going to enjoy this immensely." Terrador said just loud enough for Cynder to hear, causing her heart to sink to her stomach. Cynder stopped and shook her head, trying to remove all thoughts of doubt and fear from her hea-

Before she realized she was swatted by Terrador's tail and she rolled across the ground and the crowd roared to life.

"CYNDER!" Spyro shouted as she watched her slowly get up. Even though it was just a single swing, her body ached like hell and she could feel a little bit of blood fall down her side.

"You need to pay attention! I'm not going to hold back." Terrador taunted as he went back to circling her.

"Dad, stop!" Spyro shouted at his father, his body consumed by a mixture of fear and anger. Terrador ignored him, to wrapped up in his own revenge. Cynder coughed as she stood back up after getting the wind knocked out of her. Terrador smiled, happy to see that he didn't end the fight too quickly. Cynder ran forwards at Terrador, who just stood still and watched her. Half way to him, she jumped and tried to slash at his neck, but Terrador swatted her out of the air with his paw. Cynder hit the ground again, her body aching. Without her abilities she stood little chance against Terrador and a fight of strength. Spyro tired pulling on the rope again, only for the ape to pull back on the rope, making Spyro fall backwards. "No more of that" the ape grunted.

Cynder looked up at Spyro, and see saw the scared look on his face. She smiled back at him, making Spyro's heart fall as he thought that this would be the last time he got to see her smile. She focused her attention back to Terrador.

"Why are you even here?" She grunted as she stood back up.

Terrador snorted as he and Cynder started to circle each other again. "Spyro thought he had the power to break you and your cheetah friend out of here." Upon hearing this Skabb looked towards Spyro and smirked before laughing. Sniff jumped off Skabb's shoulder and landed on Spyro's snout, digging his claws into his scales. Spyro flinched, and tried shaking the bird off him, but Sniff held on tight.

"So, what is this I hear about you breaking someone out?" Sniff asked Spyro, digging his claws in deeper.

"Please, let go!" Spyro shook as hard as he could, but the ape holding the rope grabbed him and held him still, growing tired of his shaking.

"Let me make this clear, purple boy, you aren't going anywhere till our pockets are filled with money. Now be a good prisoner and don't cause anymore trouble or we'll just kill those two down there." The bird sneered before letting him go, flying back over to Skabb's shoulder. Spyro whimpered and remained still.

"Why didn't you stop him?" Cynder asked as she and Terrador continued to walk in circles, waiting for one of them to make the first move. "That's a terrible plan."

Terrador stopped, growing tired of walking around. "People do stupid things when they are in love, or want revenge." Cynder took a step back, as Terrador came charging at her. She stepped to the side just as he swung at her, nearly dodging the attack. At his side, Cynder jumped upon his back and was about to take a bite out of his neck, before Terrador rolled over, crushing Cynder under his weight. She groaned as she laid on the ground in pain. Terrador walk over to her and stepped on her, putting enough for on her to keep her pinned to the ground. He growled as he leaned in close to her. "You've hurt someone very precious to me once. You hurt Nova and threated to kill her. Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you?"

Cynder didn't bother to look at him. "I don't have any. I was put in here because I abandoned the one of person in this world who felt the same pain that I did." She said, sounding rather sad. She tilted her head to look up at Spyro and she saw the worried look on his face as he stared back down at her. She gave him a soft smile before addressing Terrador again. "Please just take good care of Spyro for me. He has done enough to deserve a happy life. So just make this quick." Terrador smiled with glee and put his claw to Cynder's throat. Spyro looked away, unable to watch anymore. With one swift motion Terrador swiped his claw. Cynder winced and felt a twinge of pain in her neck and could feel blood slow run down her.

The crowd cheered as the fight was over, and gold was moved about to the winners of the bet. Even Skabb clapped his hands together, applauding Terrador for the entertaining fight. Both Scratch was cheering as well before looking down to Spyro who was already crying. The bird looked up to the ape holding Spyro and said, "Take this fool away." The ape nodded and pulled Spyro along, who didn't even bother to fight back.

Terrador leaned down and whispered "Don't move" Cynder was confused by this, but was more confused by the fact not only was she still alive but she felt her energy returning to her. She felt something sliding down her neck, making her realize that Terrador had broken the dark gem that was around her neck, only slightly cutting her deep enough to cause some bleeding and make it look like he had killed her. She played along and did her best to keep still while she heard the gate open up for Terrador to leave. Soon enough she felt someone grab her and drag her along. Cynder held her breath as long as she could, and thankfully they set her down just as she had to take a breath. She could hear them start to dig into the ground, probably preparing her gave. She opened up her eyes just a crack to see if they were paying attention to her. With their backs turned to her, she used what little energy she had regained to use her shadow element. Once the pirates were done digging they turned around to dump Cynder's body in the hole, only to find that she had disappeared.

The ape was basically dragging Spyro back towards his cage, not that he minded. Spyro was light enough as is, and he nearly forgot that he was dragging something with him. Spyro barley cringed every time he was dragged over a rock bump, but nothing compared to the pain that he felt in his heart. In his mind he replayed the scene over and over again. It all seemed like a bad dream and he wished dearly that he would wake up from it. His eyes grew cloudy and his body felt weak. He just wanted to die at that moment. Almost as if his wish was being granted, a bright dazzling light shined in the dark forest and was quickly growing bigger. The ape noticed this to and looked towards where the light was coming from, only to realize that this light was a fireball just as it crashed into him. The ape screamed and ran around in circles trying to put out the fire when he was struck in the head with and ice spear and he fell over dead.

Spyro was jolted back to his sense by this sudden turn of events and he looked towards where the attacks came from. He saw three armored dragons walking towards him along with two moles and a cheetah, each also covered in a small amount of armor. Just from behind them another ball of light popped up and flew towards Spyro.

"Sorry it took so long." Sparx said as he stopped right in front of Spyro. "I would have been here sooner, but I ran into these guys." Sparx pointed towards the group who were already starting to disband, each going in a group of two. A cheetah and one of the dragons were came up to Spyro and Sparx and helped the purpled dragon up, and destroyed the dark gem around his neck.

"What's going on?" Spyro looked at the two confused.

"Wow, you weren't kidding, he really is here." The dragon seemed shocked to find Spyro here. Spyro turned towards Sparx.

"What's going on?" he asked again.

Sparx sighed. "You see, I was just flying around trying to find the keys, when I spotted this group of guys making there way towards the city. I told them that there is a bunch of pirates up ahead and they told me that they were already heading there, so I told them our plan and offered them some help."

"You didn't really help." The cheetah butted in. "You mostly just talked about how great you where and spotted your friend here being dragged around." Sparx chuckled nervously, hoping that Spyro wouldn't believe him. The cheetah then looked towards Spyro and said, "Sorry to do this, but…" The dragon beside them suddenly pinned Spyro down and the cheetah pulled a rope out and began to tie Spyro up.

"What are you doing?!" Sparx shouted.

"We are from Warfang, and once we are done freeing everyone here, we are going to take you back to Warfang. Spyro struggled against the ropes.

"No, I won't go back there!" The cheetah held Spyro down.

"Hold still, or else Spyro." Spyro didn't listen to him and the cheetah struck his head, knocking him out. He picked him up and put him on his partners back. "Take him back to camp, we'll regroup there." The dragon nodded and took Spyro away. Sparx started to chase after the dragon.

"Hey, wait!" the cheetah stepped in front of him

"Hold on."

Sparx stopped inches from the cheetah. "You've got my friend, why shouldn't I go after him?"

"Look, I know this is sudden, but could you help me rescue the others here first? We aren't going to hurt Spyro or anything, I promise."

Sparx rolled his eyes. "Fine I guess." The cheetah smiled and nodded and began to sneak around the place with Sparx close by.

Terrador sat in his cage, hoping that his plan would work. He was expecting Sparx to come darting into the tent with a set of keys. "What took you so long!" Terrador asked out raged at the insect. Sparx just held up his hands in defense.

"Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm just trying to help." The cheetah soon walked in as well and they both started to unlock the cages.

"Who's this?" Terrador asked as they unlocked his cage.

"I'm just here to help get everyone out." The cheetah explained as he started to open other cages and setting the people free.

"They already got Spyro. They said that they are going to take him to Warfang." Sparx whispered to Terrador. "Anything we can do to stop this?"

Terrador shrugged. "Not sure, but if he's apart of the search party that's been looking for Spyro, then it'll be tough."

"How come? I saw you take on half a dozen guards, a few days ago."

"Yes, but these aren't ordinary people. This are train solders from Warfang. Hell, I've probably taught some of them back when I was still a respectable dragon." The cheetah quickly got everyone out of their cages and walked back over to Terrador and Sparx.

"I think that's everyone. Could you guys help me look for more people?"

"Of course, there are still someone else we are looking for ourselves." Terrador said before thanking the Cheetah for freeing them. Before they could leave, the tent suddenly burst into flames and the three of them quickly ran out. Somehow the pirates caught wind of the search party freeing the prisoners and started to fire blazing arrows upon the tents, trying to fry anyone they could hit, while more stormed the area, swords draw with the intent to kill anyone who apposed them. The cheetah cursed and drew his bow, and tried to shoot the other archers. Terrador defended him, striking a small tree and knocking it down, making a wall of cover for them both while also batting away one charging pirate.

"Go find Spyro's other friend." Terrador shouted at Sparx just as he ducked out of the way of an arrow. "We need to leave as soon as possible!" Sparx didn't need to be told twice and flew off.

"We need to get going and quickly!" The cheetah said behind the cover Terrador made. "We'll get over ran quickly." He poked his head over his cover and shot some of the archers firing around them and ducked back down.

"I agree, but I made a promise to my son to help. So, I won't leave till his friends are safe." Terrador said as he crushed another pirate with his tail." He saw another pirate running towards them and he opened his mouth to fire an earth missile, only for nothing to happen. He cursed himself and the dark gem they put on him, and tried to swing his claws at the pirate when he got close enough. The pirate jumped back and dodged the attack, taking a swipe with his sword at Terrador's paw, which missed. The pirate swung again, this time aiming for Terrador's chest, but Terrador got out of the way just in time and bit off the pirate's head.

"Just help me find him and then we can leave." Terrador addressed to the cheetah, but only got a gargled mess of words from him. He turned around and saw Skabb, with Scratch and Sniff on his shoulders, stabbing the cheetah through his chest, killing him instantly. Skabb pulled his sword out and tossed the cheetah aside and face Terrador.

"You aren't getting out of here alive boy!" Scratch yelled, leaping off Skabb's shoulder and flew towards Terrador, with Skabb right behind him. While Skabb was trying to slice Terrador to pieces, both Scratch and Sniff would peck and scratch at him as they flew by. Terrador spun around and tried to hit Skabb with his tail, but the pirate jumped back before it could hit him, and Sniff took a small chunk of his scales out of his back followed by Scratch doing the same thing. Before Terrador could fully recover, Skabb was already attacking him again, swiping at him with his large trusty sword. Terrador braced the hit, taking the blow against his arm. While his scales did absorb some of the damage, the blade still cut deep into his arm. Terrador jumped up and began to fly to try and get away from Skabb, only for Scratch and Sniff to fly back around and tear apart his wings, and though they would heal over time, he couldn't do my flying about.

When Terrador landed, Skabb was on him again, and tried to cut his head off. Terrador did duck under the attack and slammed his head into Skabb's face, causing the pirate to fall to the ground dazed and confused, but before Terrador could finish him off, Scratch and Sniff started to harass him again, clawing and biting him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Terrador saw Sparx flying over, flying as fast as he could. In his moment of distraction, Sniff landed on Terrador's head and was about to scratch out Terrador's eye, when Sparx came in and sucker punched the bird as hard as he could, throwing the bird to the ground, knocking him out cold and before he could even get up, Terrador slammed his tail down, killing the bird instantly. "SNIFF!" Scratch shouted, sad to see his friend get killed. Enraged, He flew at Sparx and was about to eat him, when an arrow punctured him, killing him instantly. Terrador looked over to where the arrow came from, and saw Hunter with the bow and arrow that the cheetah from before had.

"You alright Sparx?" Hunter asked as he faced Terrador, drawing another arrow for the next person to attack them.

"Yeah I'm ok. Thanks for the save."

Hunter looked up at Terrador and gulped. The last time they saw each other, Terrador looked like he was going to kill them. "And what about you? Are you here to help us escape?" Terrador huffed, not appreciating Hunter for not trusting him. Before Terrador could say anything, they heard a groan and saw Skabb get up. He shook his head and looked at the three of them and saw that his birds were both dead. Skabb growled and pulled out a second sword from a dead pirate nearby. He began screaming at the top of his lungs and ran at the three of them. Hunter tried to shoot him with an arrow, but Skabb deflected it. Before Hunter could even draw another one, Skabb was upon him. Hunter was saved at the last moment as Terrador hit Skabb with his tail again.

"Go find Spyro, we'll discuss our next step later!" Terrador yelled at Sparx. Sparx agreed and flew off to find the rest of the search party. Skabb got up quicker this time and twirled his swords around. Hunter stood next to Terrador and notched another arrow.

"Think we can take him?" Hunter asked a little nervous.

"I do, just keep him distracted." Hunter nodded and began to shoot arrow's at Skabb who just blocked them with his swords as he charged forwards. He swiped at Terrador who did his best to dodge each one. Hunter got behind Skabb and jumped onto his back, wrapping his bow around Skabb's neck and chocked him. He struggled to pull Hunter off him, till he managed to grab hold of his arm and threw Hunter off. Just as Hunter landed, Terrador swung his claws at the pirate who stepped to the side and plunged his sword into Terrador's arm. Terrador's body ached and he tried to back away, only to collapse under the burning pain from the wound. Just as Skabb went for the finishing blow, Cynder jumped upon his back, tackling him to the ground and stabbed his side with her tail.

"Cynder!" Hunter said, happy to see his friend alive and well. He ran over to her and helped Terrador up. Cynder looked over to Terrador and scoffed.

"I'd say that we are even now." She said to the older dragon, to which Terrador nodded. The three faced Skabb as he picked himself back up and growled at the three of them. Hunter quickly shot another arrow, hitting him in the shoulder, causing him to drop one of his swords from the pain. Cynder ran at him and ducked under his swipe and fire a shadow blast at his other hand, burning it severely, and causing him to drop his other sword. She then pounced on him and tackled him to the ground before quickly getting off so that Terrador could crushed the pirate with his tail, putting an end to him.

With the fight over, Terrador felt his wounds get to him, and nearly collapsed to the ground again from his arm wound. "Are you alright?" Hunter asked, placing a paw on his side, but Terrador shook him off.

"I'm fine. Lets just fine the rest of the search party and get out of here."

"Search party?" Cynder sounded confused. "You mean like the ones that's been hunting us?"

"Yes, and they currently have Spyro, so unless you want them to take him to Warfang, I suggest you help."

Cynder growled. "Now wait, one moment, why should we trust you? You've done nothing but cause us harm." Terrador turned away from her and started to look around for someone from the search party.

"I let you live, didn't I?" Cynder wanted to say something to appose him more but cursed herself when she couldn't think of anything. Hunter placed a paw on her shoulder to try and help calm her down.

"lets just see where Spyro is and go from there. We can worry about trusting each other another time." Cynder wasn't to happy with this response, but agreed anyways. They did eventually regroup with the search party, where they got healed from the fight and met up with Sparx again who began telling Cynder and Hunter how he single handedly locate the pirate hide out and the events leading up to that point. Terrador looked for whoever was in charge of the search party, and asked him were Spyro was being held, needing to speak with him. After some convincing, he told him where Spyro was.

After Terrador gathered the others with him, they found Spyro near the middle of the camp, still tided up and guarded by two men. Despite the guards, Cynder ran up to Spyro and hugged him the moment she saw him.

"Cynder! Your alive!" Spyro said shocked and over come with joy to see her again.

"Spyro, I'm so sorry for everything that had happened, I shouldn't have ever said those things about you. I-" Spyro cut her off.

"Cynder, I forgive you. Thinking back on it, I wasn't being the most cheerful person around and I shouldn't have been so hard on myself. I deserved everything that you said." The guards, pulled Cynder away before they could continue the conversation, but that still didn't remove the smiles on both of their faces.

"It's good to see that you're alright Spyro… well minus the who being tied up thing." Hunter chimed in. Spyro laughed lightheartedly and agreed that he was happy to see him as well.

"So, what happens now?" Cynder asked the guards.

"From here, we are going to take him to Warfang and it will be up to King Flame to decide what to do." One of the guards explained.

"Why is that?" Hunter asked.

"Because the king believes that Spyro is the key to fixing all the trouble I've caused in Warfang." Terrador answered.

"Trouble?" Spyro tilted his head. "What's going on in Warfang?"

"You mean you haven't heard?" the other guard asked to which Spyro, Cynder, and Hunter all shook their heads.

Terrador let out a sigh as he explained it to the group. "People are hurting each other and dying, all because they think that Spyro is corrupting people and turning each other against one another all the while raising an army to kill them all. It's a mad house in Warfang right now." Spyro was beyond shocked to hear this, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for everyone being affected by him for just existing.

Cynder didn't want to believe it, and Hunter just shook his head with disgust. Sparx on the other hand seemed confused. "I don't get it, Spyro is one of the most pathetic dragons I've seen…. No offense Spyro. Why would they think that he is going to kill them all?"

"I know why." Spyro said, sounding gloomy. "It's because even though I'm weak, I still have the power to kill everyone, and that is what's scaring them."

"Which I why we are taking him back to Warfang." The left guard said. "Right now, he seems to be our only hope. So, he needs to come with us whether he likes it or not."

Cynder growled and arched her back, prepared for a fight. "No, I won't let you take him away from us again!" Both guards raised their weapons at Cynder, but before anything could happen, Spyro stopped her.

"Cynder please, enough fighting!" he shouted at her. Cynder looked at him, worried beyond belief for his safety, but he had a look that told her that he didn't care what happened to him. He stared back at her and sighed. "I know that you only want what is best for me, but people are getting hurt… I don't know what the king plans on doing or what is going to happen, but…. I think it would be best if we go back home."


	22. Chapter 22

Cynder began to tear up as the worse things possible started to flood her mind. "Spyro, I… I… I don't want to lose you, not again." Spyro couldn't help but begin to cry as well, only he was sad that this might be one of the few times left he had with her. Cynder leaned close to him and began to gently nuzzle him to which Spyro returned the gesture. "I love you Spyro." A grin grew on Spyro's face after hearing this.

"I know Cynder, and I love you to." The two held one another for some time, while the guards stood there letting them have their time together, though they kept a close eye on her in case she tried something. Seeing as they wouldn't have much time for something like this once they start moving again, the two guards figured they shouldn't ruin the moment just yet. That is until one of them mentioned when they were leaving.

"Cynder was it?" One of the guards asked, grabbing her attention.

"Yeah, that's me. Can I help you?" She tried not to sound to annoyed that he was butting in on her moment with Spyro.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to let you guys know that we are going to start moving camp again in less than an hour. Warfang is only a few days away and it would be best to get back as soon as possible." Cynder nodded, understanding the situation, and went back to relaxing with Spyro.

When they finally started to start moving camp, Cynder stayed as close to Spyro as the guards would let her. Meanwhile Hunter, Terrador, and Sparx were all towards the back of the patrol group, keeping an eye on Spyro and Cynder as best as they could.

"I don't get it," Sparx said, flying beside Hunter. "Why does he want to go back to Warfang?"

Hunter didn't have to think to long on the answer and a smile formed along his face. "That's just the kind of person Spyro is. Once he learned that people were getting hurt and killed because of him, he wanted to try and fix things."

Sparx only looked more confused. "But doesn't he still want to be with you guys? He does know that there's a good chance someone will kill him once he gets there right?"

This time Terrador spoke up. "And that is his choice to make, and there is nothing that I, nor you could do to change his mind. The only one with that kind of power is that little black abomination by his side, and if she's ok with this… well then all we can do is do our best to make sure he stays safe."

"Speaking of which," Hunter said, jumping back in the conversation. "Why do you care about Spyro's safety? Last time I saw you, you were trying to kill us. What changed?"

"I made a promise to someone very close to me…" Terrador stopped talking for a moment as memories of his own beloved filled his head. He glanced towards Cynder, and thought of how much she meant to Spyro. He thought back to when he was about to kill her, and make right to all the wrongs that she had done to him as well as what her heritage had done to everyone. Before he could end her, however, he thought about Nova and how much she meant to him before she died and the promise she made him. No matter how much he wanted Cynder dead, he knew he couldn't do it.

"Everything alright?" Sparx asked, breaking Terrador's thought.

"Hm?" he glanced towards Sparx and Hunter, who were both staring back at him. "Oh, right. Like I said, I made a promise to someone, and I will do everything in my power to fix all the wrongs I've caused him."

"That seems like a hard thing to do." Hunter added. "You've done a lot to Spyro that most would find unforgiveable."

"I know, but even after everything that I've done to my son… he still finds it in himself to forgive me and give me a second chance… For what reason that may be, well I don't know, but I'm going to take this opportunity to give Spyro the life he truly deserves."

"That's very noble of you to say Terrador." Hunter said rather surprise by the sudden change in Terrador's heart. "Then I'll help you wherever I can. He's my friend after all." Hunter glanced over to Sparx, curious if he was going to pledge to help Spyro as well. Sparx just looked back at Hunter confused.

"What?" Sparx looked creeped out that Hunter was staring at him. "Do I've have something on me?" he looked around his body, but couldn't find anything. Hunter began to chuckle and shook his head.

"No, my little friend, I just wanted to see if you had something to add."

"To add? Like what? I'm just a dragonfly after all. What could I possibly do to help Spyro?"

Hunter shrugged, but Terrador stepped in. "You've done more than I could have thought a dragonfly could do. Though you are small, weak, talkative, annoying, and many, many other things…."

"Oh wow, please stop praising me, I don't think I can take any more." Sparx said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"But!" Terrador shot back, not liking Sparx's tone of voice. "Despite all of that, you've managed to help me find Spyro and rescue him. You also helped me fight off some of the pirates. While it's not much, I'd say that it's much more than I thought someone like you could have ever done."

"Not to mention Sparx, you also rescued me. Though Terrador may be too stubborn to say how helpful you've been, thank you Sparx for saving me."

Sparx wasn't sure what to say as he's never been thanked by someone bigger than him. "Um…. Your welcome I guess?"

The patrol party walked nearly all day, only taking minor breaks when they needed it. Almost everyone was fine with this, though everyone was more than happy to sit down and eat something after walking all day. The only ones who struggled with this was Sparx, but whenever he tried to get the group to stop to rest for a bit, they would just tell him to leave them alone and go sit beside Spyro who was being dragged along on a small platform, still tied up despite Cynder attempts to convince them that Spyro wasn't going to run away if they cut him loose. They were about a day's walk away from Warfang now and they had set up camp once more. Much like last time, while everyone was doing their part, hunting, gathering, and preparing for the next day, they set two guards to watch over Spyro, only this time they wouldn't permit Cynder to be close to Spyro like last time saying that she was a huge risk being so close as she could free him easily if she tried. Despite this, she still stayed near them, though she was forced to sit in front of the guards as she spoke with Spyro. The night went fast, faster than any of them would have liked and soon enough they could see Warfang in the distance.

"So how are we going to get Spyro in there without people seeing him?" Terrador asked one of the patrol members. "The moment they do, there will be a riot."

"We've already sent someone ahead to inform King Flame that we've found Spyro and are bringing him in. From there, his majesty will send troops out and hide Spyro away inside a crate or something like that. From there we just have to hope that things go smoothly."

"Why do you say that?" Cynder asked as she walked up behind the two of them. "What are you worried about?"

"People have been fighting and stealing for months now, regardless of age, race, or class or at least that's what I've heard. For all I know, they will see the solders walking about carrying something and will want to see what's inside. People have been crazy enough to kill one another, who's to say they wouldn't try to fight trained men over a box?"

"What about to sewer systems? It's how Spyro and I got out the first time. We'd just need to find the same ventilation tunnel that we used way back when and travel under the city."

"It's a good idea on paper." Terrador interjected. "The problem is though that it would be hard to get him out of those tunnels without being spotted, and dragging a box or some sort of object out of the sewers will raise more questions than just walking through the city."

They then heard the sound of armor clanking together, signaling the solder's arrival. There were at least seven solders that walked up to the patrol group, with an empty crate. Cynder turned to Spyro as they untied him. "Last chance Spyro, you sure you want to go through with this?"

"I have to Cynder. To many people are getting hurt because of me." Cynder still wasn't too sure, but knew she couldn't say or do anything to stop him. They loaded Spyro into the crate and closed it back up. Everyone then began to follow the solders into Warfang. Cynder wasn't sure what to expect when they go inside the walls again, though the looming smoke plumes filled her heart with dread. Hunter took notice of this and tried his best to comfort her, placing a reassuring paw on her back. Cynder looked up at him and smiled, thanking him. They city was a mess, just like they had heard. While Cynder never remembered Warfang being perfectly clean, the state it was in now was a drastic change since she was last here.

While the destroyed city did bother her, what really made her skin crawl was the distant sounds of people crying, and people arguing which quickly developed to the sound of people fighting. "Things really have gotten worse here." She said aloud, as to try and distract herself from everything around them.

One of the solders nodded. "Trust me, this is normal around here now." He didn't seem to happy to say this, granted Cynder couldn't blame him for hating the way things were. As they walked further into the city they came across a small group of shady looking people. They noticed the crate the soldiers were carrying as well as the large amount of people around it which peaked their interest.

"What's in the box?" one of them called out, but everyone ignored him. He grunted and walked up to the group. "Hey, I asked you guys a question!" he grabbed Hunters arm, pulling him back with no intention of letting him go until he got an answer. The only answer that the man got was a swift punch to the face from Hunter. The man fell to the ground, both hands on his face as he shriveled on the ground in pain.

"Great now you've done it." One of the patrol men sighed. The solders started to run as best as they could with the crate, as the others from the little gang chanced after everyone to avenge their friend. Thankfully they reached the palace before anymore of a fight could break out. Once there the gang left them alone, not wanting to pick a fight with even more of the city guards. Hunter, Terrador, Sparx, and Cynder followed everyone up the steps and into the castle and let out a sigh of relief once the doors closed behind him.

"Why did you punch that guy?" Terrador asked, rather annoyed that Hunter nearly started a fight. Hunter rubbed the back of his neck shamefully.

"Sorry, I just figured that he wasn't going to let us go without an answer, so…."

"It doesn't matter now." One of the guards said as they started to open the crate, letting Spyro out. "We made it all in one piece, and we got Spyro here safely. You guys relax, we'll go tell the king of your arrival." Finally, being able to walk around, Spyro started to pace around the room, growing anxious by the minute as they waited for Flame.

"You'll be fine Spyro, I'm sure of it." Hunter said, trying to be supportive. Spyro still wasn't to sure but he was happy to hear this none the less.

"Thanks Hunter, but I still can't help but worry. I was nearly executed last time I was here."

"Well you wanted to come here Spyro." Terrador reminded him. "If you were worried about that, then you shouldn't have agreed to come here and just let us help you escape."

"I know, but-" Before he could finish, the doors opened once more, and Flame stepped into the room.

"Ah, Spyro, it's good to see you again." Flame said as he walked up to the purple dragon. "I presume these are friends of yours?" Flame over at Cynder and Hunter who both bowed respectfully back at him alongside Terrador. Flame didn't seem to happy to see Terrador though. "I see that you also came back. I hope you don't have any plans on causing any further harm?" Terrador only shook his head.

"He's trying to make amends." Spyro said, defending his father. "Please let him stay." Flame turned back to Spyro and thought about it for a moment.

"Well if you are alright with him being here, then I suppose it will be fine for him to stay. Now then, we have important business to discuss." Flame said as he gently pushed Spyro along beside of him.

Cynder walked around and stopped in front of Flame, not wanting Spyro to leave her site. "Excuse me, your majesty, what do you plan on doing with Spyro? I won't let you hurt him." Flame smile down at Cynder and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Don't you worry, I have no plans on bringing anymore harm to him than what was already dealt. All I plan on doing is use him to try and calm the people."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Sparx asked just as he floated out from behind Terrador. He stretched his arms and yawned, seemingly just waking up from a nap. Terrador turned and looked at the dragonfly, confused by how he managed to fall asleep while they were running through the city.

"Oh?" Flame tilted his head, surprised by the new addition to the group. "You must be another friend of Spyro I presume?"

"Ha, I'm much more than just his friend, I'm his savoir! He wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for me." Sparx puffed out his chest, trying to seem more impressive.

"Hmm, right, well you'll have to fill me in on your adventures another time." Flame said, mostly ignoring what Sparx was saying and turned back to Spyro. "Right now, Spyro I need your help saving this city." Spyro couldn't help but look worried.

"How do can I possibly do that?"

"Well, I was thinking that I could give this grand speech and then you step in and talk about… well something to help calm people down… Maybe something that shows them that you're not like Malefor or something of that nature."

"That's your grand plan?" Terrador asked, trying not to sound to unimpressed." Flame looked back towards Terrador.

"Ok, I know it's not the best plan, but I'm at a lose as to what else to do here. It's either this or I just give Spyro up to the crowd, and I think we both know how that is going to go."

"But won't people riot once they see him?" Hunter chimed in.

"Well maybe, but I'm hoping that they don't."

"You don't know?" This time Sparx questioned. "You're going to risk every person in the crowd with this plan. If they riot a lot of people can get hurt."

"I know that!" Flame shouted at everyone, fumes flowing from his jaws. "I know the risks that we are taking, but I honestly don't have any idea on how else to fix this!"

"I say we give it a try." Everyone turned to Spyro, surprised that he wants to go through with it.

"Are you sure Spyro?" Cynder asked and he nodded.

"I agree with you all, this is a very risky thing to do, but if the only other option here is to give me up to them… what other choice do we have?"

"I don't like this plan." Terrador grunted. Spyro smiled and walked up to him and placed a paw on top of his.

"I know dad, but I'll have you here with me to help if things go wrong, and I have all of you as well," he said looking at all of his friends and Cynder. He then turned to Flame. "And I'm sure that Flame will do everything in his power to keep the people calm." Flame nodded.

"You have my word, I'll make sure that you won't be attacked."

Spyro nodded. "Alright then, when can we do this meeting?" Flame smiled and began to walk towards the door.

"I'll arrange a town meeting."

A few hours pasted, and Flame moved everyone to a lower floor, to a room with a balcony that over looked the town square. This was where Flame gave most of his 'grand' speeches to the public. Spyro peeked around the corner, just enough to see the hundreds of people gathering. He gulped nervously as he watched more people come. He looked a little bit closer and saw a line of guards, all facing the crowd. Other than a few walls and stairs, they were the only ones keeping the people of Warfang and Spyro. The thought alone made him shiver in fear as the worst outcomes came to his mind. Thankfully Cynder came over to him and draped her wing over him.

"I know you're nervous, but if things do go south, then we'll do everything in our power to get you out of here. We did it once and we'll do it again. I promise." Spyro smiled, thankful that everyone was still here with him.

"Thank you Cynder, and thank you everyone. I don't know where I would be without each and everyone of you."

Flame walked into the room soon after and looked towards Spyro. "You ready?" Spyro nodded. "Alright, then when I call for you, just walk out ok? All you have to do is tell people that you're nothing like Malefor and wont ever be like him and why. Think you can do that?"

Spyro nodded. "I think so…. I was kind of hoping to have more time to think of something though."

"Don't worry, if you struggle, I'll be there to help you." Flame reassured before walking out onto the balcony. The moment he did, the crowd started to hush and waited for Flame to speak. Flame looked down upon the crowd, making sure he had the people's attention before starting. "My people of Warfang, I understand that times have been tough, but I seek to remedy this." Several people started to break the silence with shouts of outrage, saying that Flame hasn't done enough and that he needs to be replaced. "People, please calm yourselves, I have something very important to share with you all. Once this is over, if you still have any issues, I'll do everything in my power to fix them." Flame paused again waited for people to quiet down again.

"Good. Now, like I was saying, things have been tough here… people are dying everyday in the streets, and much, much worse, but do any of you know why these things are happening? It's because each and everyone of you here has a fear of the purple dragon. I've heard the rumors that go around Warfang, and I've seen what these rumors have brought. I wanted to make things clear today that none of those things about Spyro is true. I know you have your doubts about my words, but I can promise each and everyone of you that the purple dragon has no intention to follow in Malefor's footsteps.

"But what about the child he killed!" One man shouted, which stirred the rest of the crowed into another uproar.

"What happened was not his fault, but the fault of his upbringing!" Flame shouted above everyone, trying to calm them down again.

"Then who's to say that he won't take his anger out on all of us!" Another person shouted aloud, making several people go into a panic. The guards tensed as people began to shout more and more, saying things like how Flame is doing nothing to stop Spyro or how that Spyro was a menses that needed to be destroyed.

"People, people, please!" Flame shouted again above them all. "If you want proof that Spyro is none of these things, then I shall give it to you, but first I must ask that you all calm down." It took a while, but the crowd's shouts died down to a murmur, till one person spoke out again.

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Flame turned behind him and nodded towards Spyro, stepping aside so that he could walk up to the balcony and let everyone see him. Spyro gulped nervously again and walked forwards. The crowd gasped, and threats were given to Spyro. "People, please before you do anything rash, please just hear him out." Flame asked the people of Warfang. Though many of them looked like they wanted to storm the building and kill Spyro, they calmed down and let him talk. Flame turned to Spyro and whispered. "Go ahead Spyro, tell them who you are."

Spyro nodded, trying to hide his nervousness as best as he could. "Um… hello everyone… Um as you know, I'm Spyro, the purple dragon... um well you see, I'm nothing like Malefor… Not once have I ever had the intention to hurt someone and I, um promise you all that I wont ever kill another dragon." Terrador cringed after hearing that opening speech, along with most of the crowd below.

"Spyro." Flame whispered to him again. "Try to sound more confident." Spyro just nodded before looking out to the crowd and all he saw were people that wanted him dead, people who probably have done far worse things that what Terrador had ever done to him, people who would be much happier if he were just dead. He froze, and the people in the crowd began to whisper to one another, some questioning why the rumored killer dragon was shaking in fear, while others were starting to panic themselves, fearing that Spyro was going to attack them.

Seeing Spyro freeze, Cynder stepped out and stood beside him. People took a moment to realize who the black dragoness standing beside Spyro was. "Spyro isn't the dragon that you all think that he is. He's made mistakes in the past, but those weren't his fault. You see he-"

"That's Cynder!" Someone shouted among the crowd. "The daughter of Malefor himself! She's here to raise an army against us all!" The crowd began to panic once more.

"Please, everyone stop this! They mean us no harm, you have to believe us!" Flame shouted down below as people started to push and shove each other out of the way as they tried to run for their lives.

"Enough!" Terrador's voice boomed across the town square. Everyone froze and looked up at the green dragon, most of which recognized him instantly, and they all began to question why he was with Spyro and Cynder. "You are all acting like hatchling with this behavior of yours. Spyro only showed up and you are all running around like he has shown you a dead body. Show some respect, and let the boy speak!"

"And why do you defend this monster?" a woman shouted from the crowd.

"I defend him because…" Terrador paused and looked down at Spyro, looking at him with sorrowful eyes, showing the months of regret forming in them. "I defend Spyro because it was my fault that he turned out to be this way." People began to murmur to themselves again but let him continue. Terrador let out a sigh. "Most of you should know who I am. I am Terrador, and I fought against Malefor when he attacked the city and was there when we killed him, but that War took so much from me, so much from all of us. So much so that when me and my mate Nova had our first child and found that we gave birth to the next purple dragon, we vowed to make sure he was treated less than dirt…. What we did to him… they were inhumane. He wasn't even a dragon, in our eyes, but scum that we thought we could take advantage of… then, one day we threw him out… out onto the streets where he had to fend for himself for who knows how long." Terrador spread his wings and flew down to the crowd below, stopping just behind the guards. "Spyro did in fact murder someone, a child if I heard correctly, but that is not his fault. It is mine for twisting his mind and corrupting him. What I had was a chance to make things right and fix the title of purple dragon. They are a gift to us from the ancestors and all we've done to it was make him see the world as an ugly, hateful, rotten place filled with the worst of the worst… but you want to know something? After Spyro had ran away and escaped Warfang, he found me again, and instead of trying to kill me for everything that I did to him, he forgave me…" the crowd looked at Terrador confused, but stayed silent and let him continue.

"I still don't understand why he could possibly do that or why, but even after treating him as worse then a dragonfly, he still found it in himself to forgive me… does that sound like the kind of person that you all have been freaking out about?" Terrador looked behind him and back up at Spyro, and silently gave him the floor again. Spyro smiled back at his father, thankful for his help.

Feeling a bit more courage now that he had Cynder and his father by his side, he began to speak again. "I don't know all the things that Malefor has done to you all, but I know he has done a lot. He's destroyed homes, killed hundreds, both friends and family, and he's betrayed all of dragon kind, but I am not like that, and I promise you all that I don't wish to hurt anyone. I can't even fly, as I was robbed of that to, thanks to my father, and yet still all I want is to live a happy life… I don't know if any of you would understand when I say this, but that's all I want in life. I want people to be happy and I want to be among people who don't see you as less than a being. I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want people to die. If it will make you all happy… I'll give myself up to you all and I'll let you decide my fate… just please, stop hurting one another." The crowd went silent for a moment, thinking over the words Spyro and Terrador had said.

Flame was the first to speak again. "If anyone has something to say or if there if you want something done to Spyro as payment for his actions, you're free to do so now." No one stepped forwards or said anything. "Good. Now for now this meeting is over, and I want you all to know that Spyro will be staying inside the castle till the time comes were I believe that it is safe for him to walk among people again, however if anyone has anything to say regarding him, then you are free to come to the caste and do so. You may all go home now." Spyro was the first to leave, wanting nothing more than to get out of there as soon as possible, his heart beating quickly due to nervous energy and soon enough the crowd followed, leaving the town square.

Cynder walked up behind Spyro and hugged him "Good job Spyro, I'm very proud of you."

"Thank you Cynder." Spyro gladly hugged her back. "I couldn't have done it without your support."

"Things aren't over yet Spyro." Terrador said as the doors to the balcony were closed behind him by servants.

"Terrador is right" Flame added. "Things aren't going to fix themselves just after this. We will probably have to do several more before people come to their senses, and even then, this could take years"

"I know," Spyro smiled and looked around at all of his friends and family that were with him. "but so long as I have all of you to back me up, I think that we can make it through this."


	23. Epilogue

Several years have passed and things in Warfang were starting to look brighter. People weren't killing each other, and crime was at an all time low. Inside the castle, Spyro was waking up from his slumber and was about to leave when he remembered that he had fallen asleep in Cynder's arms, causing him to blush. Though they had together for years now, Spyro still couldn't help but feel nervous whenever he was close to Cynder, though he could never tell why. Still, today was a big day, and he knew they had to get up soon. He nuzzled her neck gently and she began to stir. "Good morning Spyro." Cynder whispered tiredly before letting out a yawn.

"Good morning to you Cynder. Today's the day remember? The day we attempt to live among other people again." She nodded as she finished her yawn.

"Yeah I remember. You're not nervous, are you?" Spyro shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Not so long as I don't have one of Warfang's finest Solder's standing beside me." Spyro smiled back at her as they got up from their bed, laughing a little to himself as he thought back to everything that had happened since they got back to Warfang. Since Cynder knew she would never leave his side again, she requested from Flame if she could be trained in combat and become a member of the city guard. Flame gladly accepted her request, and though it was very difficult to train her within the caste, they had the help of Terrador to train her, who at this point was given back his position as a combat trainer in the military. It was hard on both of them at first, as Terrador was still getting over his anger towards her, which made some of the early training sessions end with her getting severely hurt sometimes, but the more they trained, the more he grew to forgive her as well as himself.

Even Spyro learned a thing or two in his time at the castle, though he never learned how to control his elemental powers, despite Cynder's prodding to let his father teach him. Spyro made a promise to never learn how to use his powers, as to help calm the people of Warfang. Instead, in his time in the castle he had learned a lot of things about politics, and though he could never become King of Warfang or anything like that, he was often found in the King Flame's court, discussing important matters, and how to best deal with them. Flame was still king, his short tempter made most meetings harder than they needed to be, but thankfully with Spyro by his side and his newly appointed adviser Hunter, they managed to not only help calm people down, but also reestablish broken trade routes, made new allies with neighboring cities and countries, as well as several more minor things around the city.

As Spyro and Cynder got ready for the day, there was a tiny knock on their door. "That would be Sparx." Cynder let out a sigh, rather hoping that Terrador would have given them the day off. Sparx was given a job as a messenger around the castle due to him being able to fly faster than anyone could run around the hallways, and while it wasn't a very important job, it was by far the highest position a dragonfly has ever had, which gave him a lot of respect, even among the dragon's the roamed the palace.

Spyro nuzzled her once last time before she opened the door. Sure, enough Sparx was floating just outside, waiting for Cynder to come out. "You're late you know. Terrador isn't very happy."

"Is he ever happy?" She asked as she left the room. "I'll see around Spyro. Let me know were we are living once they are done kicking us out of here." She joked before running down the halls, hoping that Terrador wouldn't invoke to much of his wrath upon her for being late.

Spyro watched her run, smiling happily before she turned the corner and out of his site. He then turned his attention to Sparx. "Thank you Sparx. You're free to go now."

"Wait, wait, wait. I've got one more thing for you." Sparx said before floating down to the floor and picked up a letter he was carrying with him. "This is from Flame. It's the location of your new home."

"Thanks, Sparx." Spyro said as he took the letter.

"You sure seem happy to be leaving this place. I can't imagine why though; this place is great. Free food, comfortable beds. Cynder seemed like she was going to miss this place."

Spyro chuckled and left the room, wanting to check out where he and Cynder were going to live. "I'm going to miss this place, trust me I will, but I feel like this is the start of a new chapter for me and Cynder. I guess that's why I'm not as sad to be leaving."

"Hmm, I still don't really get it, but hey you've always been a weird one. Well anyways, I've got to get going now. The day's still young and there are a lot of messages to deliver." Sparx said before zipping past him, leaving Spyro alone again. He walked the hallways of the castle in silence, thinking back to all the good times he had there up to this point. He thought back to the trouble he and Cynder got in the first few months they were there. Though the guards weren't to happy catching them, Flame gave them a pass seeing as it was natural for maturing dragons of their age.

As he rounded another corner, he was reminded of all the trouble that Sparx was causing. Even to this day, he still gloated and twisted the truth to make it seem like he was hero, and though most people didn't believe Sparx's stories, there were some in the castle who thought Sparx was telling the truth. Everyone tried their best not to laugh when those people were around Sparx, and thankfully it was mostly just the younger staff members who believed Sparx's stories. Spyro found himself so lost in his memories that he wasn't paying any attention until he bumped into someone. "Oh, my bad, sorry about that." Spyro said before realizing who he bumped into by their pink skin. "Ember? It's great to see you again, what are you doing here?" Long before this moment, Ember did find her parents again with the help of Elora, and while they didn't see their fauns friend much anymore, Ember made sure to come visit every now and then. There was even a rumor spreading around the castle that the king had a thing for her, though it was hard to tell if this was true or not seeing as it was Sparx who was spreading this around, though he promises that he had delivered letters to one another.

"Hey Spyro, it's great to see you to. I just came by to see how you and Cynder were doing. I heard that today's the day you leave this place."

"Has word really spread that quickly about today? I have to be honest, that makes me a little worried about who else might know this." Despite their effort to calm people and stop the violence, every now and then, there would be someone attempting either the kings or Spyro's life, though none of them ever stood a chance against once Cynder was around.

"I wouldn't worry to much about it, I think Flame only told those close to you. Anyways, I'm here to keep you company and maybe help you move some of your things."

"Thanks Ember. I just hope that Flame didn't make our home to far away from the palace. It's hard enough as is to travel to distant cities for a meeting, let alone the other side of Warfang." Ember laughed but patted his side.

"Well then it's good that you got me here, now why don't we check this place out before packing up?"

"Yeah I like that plan." The rest of the walk to Spyro's new home, he and Ember spent talking about things that happened in the past, and how that Ember was slowing taking over her parent's business back in her home city. When they did reach the building, Spyro was glad to find that it was only a block from the main gates into the palace. Inside the building, there was nothing that really stood out, though that was mostly due to it being empty. It was a two-story building, with two bedrooms and enough space to fit all of Spyro's friends inside if need be. Other than that, it was nothing to special, which was just how Spyro liked it.

"You know Spyro, with your connections with Flame, you could have gotten something a lot nicer."

"I know, but I don't want something grand. I just want to live as much of a normal life as I can." Ember nodded, understanding what he was getting at. One of the hardest things she had to deal with was having people stare at her, and listening to comments on how she looked like a freak without any scales, but she had grown to ignore them. The went back to the small room that Flame had given Spyro and Cynder. One thing that Spyro was excited for was to have more space for them. While he enjoyed spending so much time with her, especially since she was gone most of the time, he did enjoy having some walking room. With the help of Ember, they made quick work packing all their belongings and put them into boxes. The moved everything outside of their room and before Spyro closed the door one last time he looked back into the empty room and thought about all the good times he had had in the room over the past few years. He smiled once more before shutting the door.

 **Hello everyone, I'm so glad that all of you made it all the way to the end of this story, it took way to long to finish this. To be honest with you guys, there are a lot of things that I didn't like about this story and there are even more things that I wish I could have changed about it, which is why I'm so surprised to see so many of you liking this story. It's strange actually to be done with this book. If I recall correctly this was my third story that I was writing around the year 2013 and here I am five years later finally finishing it after restarting it two or three times. It actually feels rather nice to be done with this story. I do want to also quickly apologies for the past few chapters and how sloppy they were. The time crunch to get the story done by the end of 2017 was a lot harder than I had thought I would be, and even then, I failed to accomplish that, as it is currently 1:00 AM, January 1, 2018 where I am right now. Still a huge thanks for those who stuck with me this whole time, I honestly would have given up on this story a long time ago if it wasn't for you guys. As I'm sure I have mentioned before on some of my other stories, this is going to be my last story on FF, or at least for a long time. I've actually grown really tired of Fanfiction which is partially why it took so long to write chapters. With that said, I still must give a huge thanks to all the people who've read, reviewed, followed, and favorited my stories over the years I've been on this site. From the good times to some of the bad times, I remember having a lot of people support me, even when I thought the stuff I was writing was just hot garbage, and maybe it still is, I mean it is fanfiction after all. Still I just want you guys to know that it all still means a lot to me to see how much you guys enjoyed my stories, and hey who knows maybe one day I'll publish an actual story of my own, but that is for another time. Thanks again you guys for sticking with me all this time, and I hope you all have a fantastic 2018!**


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